Investigations into an aircraft incident in which a light Cessna C150 aircraft crash landed in a rice field on the Essequibo River island of Wakenaam last November found that the plane had run out of fuel.
Last November, the US-registered aircraft bearing registration N65589, crash landed in a rice field at Maria’s Pleasure on the northern side of the island. The plane was on its way from neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA). The two occupants, its owner and the pilot, escaped with minor injuries.
Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Zulficar Mohammed told Stabroek News on Friday that the investigations had been completed and it had been determined that the light aircraft had run out of fuel.
He said the investigators found that several factors had influenced the flight that day, including head winds which forced the aircraft to utilize all its fuel before reaching Timehri, adding that the aircraft was on a test flight at the time.
The aircraft was subsequently removed from the island and after being reassembled, its Brazilian owners flew onwards to Brazil.
On the day of the flight the plane was expected to make a scheduled fuel stop at the CJIA.
The aircraft, which sustained structural damage during the landing, came down approximately a mile away from the airstrip which has been constructed on the island. Several concerns were raised at the time about the nature of the incident.
Meantime, Mohammed said on Friday that investigations into a number of aircraft incidents, mainly domestic, which had been reported, had been completed and the recommendations made were being put in place.
The country’s aviation sector has a fairly good record. However, in recent times, a number of incidents all of which were non-fatal, had tainted the sector’s performance.
On January 17 last year, a light Cessna aircraft crash landed at the Baramita airstrip, in the North West District (NWD).
The Oxford Aviation plane, a six-seater Cessna 206, bearing the registration 8R-GRT, crashed on landing at the interior airstrip, some time after 9.30 am that day. The pilot was the only person on board and he escaped with only minor injuries.
In March last year, a light single-engine Maule aircraft operated by a Seventh Day Adventist mission in Guyana crashed during the afternoon hours on May 17 at the Paruima airstrip in Region 7. No one sustained major injuries in that incident.
In June last year , a light Cessna aircraft operated by local airline Air Services Limited (ASL) sustained minor structural damage shortly after landing at the Kaow Island airstrip in the Essequibo River.
Also, in August last year, a Trans Guyana Airways Britten Norman Islander was completely written off after it skidded off the Port Kaituma airstrip and slammed into a fence, shortly after landing during wet weather.
Several days later a Cessna Grand Caravan operated by the company skidded off the Mabaruma airstrip shortly after landing.
Mohammed told Stabroek News earlier that such incidents are investigated by the GCAA as is mandatory but the results would take months since the local aviation body as well as the aircraft manufacturer would have to investigate the incident in detail.
The entire process, he noted, is costly.
