Investigators will wrap up their on-site inspection of the Caribbean Airlines (CAL) jet that skidded off the runway at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) within three or four days and the key `black box’ recorders are in Washington for assessment.
Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn told Stabroek News yesterday that an internal report has already been submitted but he would not comment on the contents. He said that the report could be released sometime in the future. A full technical report is not expected for over a year, he said. The aircraft’s two accident recorders or ‘black boxes’ were retrieved on Saturday and were sent to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) headquarters in Washington on Sunday.
NTSB investigators along with their local and regional counterparts yesterday continued examining the jet which broke in two after it overshot the runway and burst through the perimeter fence of the airport early Saturday. There were 163 passengers and crew onboard the Boeing 737-800 aircraft at the time of the crash. Miraculously, there were no fatalities.
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is spearheading the investigation with Director, Paula McAdam designated as Chief Investigator. The investigators from the NTSB as well as officials from the GCAA and aviation officials from Trinidad and Suriname will hopefully wrap up their on-site examination of the aircraft within three to four days, Benn said. The aircraft will then be moved from the site but there will be further examination of the plane. Interviews of those connected to the crash, including the aircraft crew, continued yesterday.
The NTSB said in a statement that it has designated Bob Benzon as the U.S. Accredited Representative. “He will lead the U.S. team, which includes seven NTSB staff with expertise in operations, meteorology, airworthiness, survival factors, and aircraft performance as well as representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing,” the statement said. It said that the GCAA requested that the accident recorders be transported to the NTSB headquarters to be downloaded.
Meanwhile, CAL yesterday advised that passengers of the flight, BW523, and their families wishing to find out more about the planned counselling programme can send an email to passengercare523@caribbean-airlines.com. In Guyana, those wishing to speak to a counsellor can call telephone numbers 265-7001/7003 to 7030. Three persons were hospitalized at the Georgetown Public Hospital following the crash and Nicolette Allen was discharged on Sunday while Juliet Shivwoudh was discharged yesterday. Noel Elliot, who sustained a broken leg, remains hospitalized.
Fuel
As more details continue to emerge about the crash-landing, this newspaper was told that the aircraft was travelling with little fuel since it had not refueled when it landed in Trinidad, prior to coming here. The flight originated in New York.
How atmospheric conditions were at the time and what role this played in the crash, have also been raised. Trinidad’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told reporters there on Sunday that on Friday night, a CAL flight coming into Guyana had to circle for over an hour before landing. The Prime Minister said she was advised this happened because the visibility was low because of the rainfall. She added that a decision was taken that if the aircraft could not land safely, it would return to Trinidad. However, it was able to land.
Fareed Dean, the Trinidadian pilot had reportedly told relatives that poor visibility due to heavy rainfall resulted in the aircraft over-shooting the runway at the CJIA. He reportedly said the runway had poor lighting and this contributed to the poor visibility when he attempted to land at about 1:32 am on Saturday. The authorities here have said that visibility was good and the runway lights were working.
Retired BWIA captain Norris Gomez, who didn’t want to comment on the actual accident because of the lack of detail, told the Trinidad Guardian that Dean is “an excellent, experienced pilot”. Gomez echoed the statements of an aviation source here saying that “pilots are under extreme psychological pressure to land at destinations in order to save the airline great costs due to the expense of putting up people in hotels and rescheduling flights.”
“This is not unique to CAL but the pilot has to feel that he can make his decisions without fear of recrimination,” he told the Guardian. Gomez said that the current CAL board does not have anyone with flying, engineering or aviation experience on it and therefore, does not have anyone who understands the pressures the pilots are under. “I think that this would be a good opportunity for the powers that be to evaluate the way it structures the boards of nationalised companies that require specialist industry knowledge and experience,” he was quoted as saying.
Irrational
Meantime, Benn yesterday defended the response to the crash saying that accounts by passengers in yesterday’s edition of Stabroek News that they were alone “in the woods in the dark” with no rescuers coming was “irrational”. He said that the impression being created “is against all norms and tenets in this type of emergency”.
“There was nobody wandering in the woods as was stated,” he said pointing out that the plane ended up in an open field with the woods some distance away. He also declared that the aircrew assisted passengers off the plane, contrary to an account by another passenger. “That is not true,” he stressed with regards to the account that the aircrew were among the first off the plane. All the reports he has received say that they assisted persons, he said. This newspaper was told that the aircrew was among the first who arrived at the Georgetown Public Hospital for treatment after initially stopping at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.
The minister also stated that the situation immediately after the crash with regards to rescuers is being “misrepresented”. He pointed out that persons would have to come out immediately given the fear of the plane exploding. “Nobody sits around waiting to be rescued,” he stressed. “It would not be normal for people to sit in aircraft and wait for the rescue people.” With regards to the lightning available after the crash, Benn said that fire service vehicles were the first to get on site and when he got there, the area was illuminated with lights from the vehicles. Asked about mobile searchlights, he said that this came in later. There are small portable sets available at the airport, he said. “The issue there and then was not to find portable lighting sets so that photographers can probably take pictures,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pastor Ted Binda, who was at the airport on Saturday to collect six relatives who were on the flight, said that after the plane landed and officials learned what had happened, he saw four men – apparently the first rescuers – run from the airport tarmac towards the direction of the aircraft. This was some minutes later, he said. Binda said that the plane touched down opposite the viewing gallery.
His relatives were sitting in the front row of the economy cabin just after the first class section where the plane split in two. He said that during the landing, an air hostess, who apparently was not wearing her seatbelt, was flung into the air. The relatives, including a seven-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy, got out through the emergency door at the wing. Men caught them as they jumped out, he said.
Binda’s wife, Lucy said that there was fog and it was raining when the plane came in. At one point, the fog was so thick that “you couldn’t see the lights,” she said.
