Hours of searching over mountainous Region Eight for a second day yesterday yielded no sign of the missing twin-engine Britten Norman Islander as concerns grow over the fate of the pilot and the cargo handler.
The aircraft which belongs to Air Services Limited (ASL) with 28-year-old pilot Captain Nicolas `Nicky’ Persaud and 51-year-old cargo handler David Bisnauth onboard, disappeared on Sunday a few minutes after takeoff from the Mahdia airstrip for another located in Karisparu. Communication with the plane was lost at 11.45 am, approximately two minutes after takeoff. The routine flight was scheduled to last for approximately 15 minutes. In a statement last evening, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said that the weather en route to Karisparu at the time of the flight was reported as “bad.”
The search and rescue operation lasted for six hours and 40 minutes on day one. On day two eleven hours and 24 minutes of flight time were accumulated.
Stabroek News was told that the operation resumed around 9 am with five aircraft inclusive of a helicopter.
Throughout the day the aircraft returned to the same Mahdia airstrip where the missing plane took off from to refuel. The search was called off at nightfall and according to the GCCA it will recommence at sunrise.
In the press release, the GCAA said that investigators and GDF Special Forces are on standby for possible extraction. It noted that searchers were able to cover a large area but there were still no sightings of the aircraft. The release added that search and rescue teams triangulated a search area approximately 20 miles west and south of Mahdia.
“The expanse of dense jungle is within the area of interest as determined by map terrain information and aircraft sighting while taking into inconsideration the last known position of the aircraft,” the aviation body said.
It was stated that the mountainous area – up to 700 metres high – was overflown including Echerak and North Fork in search of the duo. Persaud, the release noted, has 8,000 flying hours and vast experience operating in the area.
The twin-engine aircraft’s last known position via “Spot Tracker” was 3.8 nautical miles south of Mahdia.
“Regrettably, the second day of the search yielded no sightings of the aircraft,” the release said, adding that the total search hours flown so far is 18 hours and four minutes.
Included in yesterday’s search were two fixed wing aircraft and three rotor wing aircraft including one GDF helicopter.
All aspects of the operation are being coordinated from the Rescue Coordination Centre at the Timehri Control Tower.
Present at the coordination centre are officials from the Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Health, GCCA, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation, GDF Air Corps, ASL and the Guyana Police Force.
The release added that Mahdia is a hub for operations into locations in the escarpment and as such the missing flight was taking supplies to Karisparu. Stabroek News understands that among the supplies onboard were fuel, jet parts and zinc sheets.
ASL Manager Annette Arjoon-Martins had told Stabroek News that within half an hour of no communication, the company sent four aircraft into the area to search. Subsequently both of the company’s helicopters were dispatched. The six aircraft remained in the skies until sundown without any sighting.
Stabroek News was told yesterday that the difficulty that the searchers are facing is the denseness of the forest. It was explained that from the air it would be difficult to spot a downed aircraft amidst the thick vegetation. “The forest is very big and the plane is very small,” a source said.
Based on what was told to this newspaper what is required at this point is a “comb search.”
This newspaper was unable to make contact with Persaud’s relatives but was told that a sister of Bisnauth was at the airstrip yesterday.
There have been several incidents involving domestic aircraft this year.
In January a Kato-bound plane crashed after takeoff at the Ogle Airport. The January 11 crash resulted in pilot Raul Seecharran and a pregnant Shamica Monroe being hospitalized.
Then on January 18, a Trans Guyana Airways (TGA) plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Olive Creek, Region Seven airstrip. Canadian pilot Blake Slater and Guyanese cargo handler Dwayne Jacobs died.
The next aircraft incident occurred on March when the door to a Britten Norman Islander owned by ASL opened up during a flight to Kamarang. The plane, 8R-GHE, departed the Ogle International Airport around midday with four travellers and during its descent into the village the left passenger’s door opened. The door was quickly secured. No one was hurt.
Three persons were hospitalized after the plane they were aboard crashed around 11:15 am on March 18 at Arau, Region Seven during takeoff. Pilot Bernard Singh along with passengers Ivor Williams, Leon Bristol and Troy Daniels sustained injuries.
On May 16, a TGA Britten Norman Islander aircraft had a hard landing at the Kurupung Bottom airstrip, Region Seven around 12:27 pm. Five persons, including the pilot, were on board the aircraft, which had departed from Ogle International Airport. There were no reported injuries.
In July a plane owned by Domestic Airways ran off the runway upon landing at the Monkey Mountain airstrip in Region 8. The pilot Orlando Charles and a lone passenger were on the plane when the incident occurred at around 9.50 am but they were not injured. The twin-engine aircraft was however damaged.
