The aircraft, which bears United States registration number N65589, was travelling from Trinidad and Tobago to Brazil with a scheduled fuel stop at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri but the pilot ran out of fuel. He was forced to land the plane in a rice field on the Essequibo River island. The owner of the aircraft was the other occupant of the aircraft at the time of the incident.
The incident is being investigated by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and sources within the aviation sector noted on Friday that several key areas needed to be addressed, including how much fuel was onboard. It was noted that when filing a flight plan, the pilot of the aircraft is required by law to ensure that it has enough fuel to travel to its destination, to an alternate aerodrome in the event of an emergency, and to fly for a maximum of 30 minutes thereafter if the second option was inevitable.
It was noted that the Trinidadian authorities should have ensured that the pilot complied with that aspect of his pre-flight arrangements.
Meanwhile, a source noted that there are several aerodromes along the flight route where the pilot could have landed the airplane when he observed that he was low on fuel. Among them is the aerodrome at Bemichi, in the North West District, Hampton Court and Brittney on the Essequibo Coast. The source said that though not commissioned, the aerodrome at Wakenaam could have been used for landing since it was an emergency and the strip is capable of facilitating the aircraft type. On this point, the source said that air traffic control should have notified the pilot of the aircraft of the available options.
Director General of the GCAA Zulficar Mohammed was not in a position to comment when contacted on Friday.
Around lunchtime on Wednesday, the small aircraft was some 30 miles from Timehri when the pilot informed air traffic control that he was landing at Wakenaam. The man and the aircraft owner escaped with minor injuries.
An aviation source at Timehri noted on Friday that the incident was a genuine emergency, while adding that preliminary investigations have so far ruled out any suspicions which may arise.
