The search and rescue operation for the missing Air Services Limited (ASL) plane continued yesterday without success over an expanded area.
The twin-engine Britten Norman Islander with 28-year-old pilot Captain Nicolas `Nicky’ Persaud and 51-year-old cargo handler David Bisnauth onboard vanished without a trace on Sunday two minutes after it left the Mahdia airstrip. The plane was on a routine trip from Mahdia to Karisparu, in what should have been a 15-minute flight.
In its latest update last evening the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said that the search area was expanded to include 60 square miles, based on information on where last the plane was spotted.
In the press release, it was stated that with still no sign of the missing aircraft, the search and rescue operation widened its areas close to the intended destination Karisparu – an Amerindian community in Region 8 (Potaro/Siparuni).
Eyewitness reports, the release said indicate that the aircraft was spotted closer to Karisparu, which prompted the decision to concentrate in areas including Wineperu, Taffy, Black Water and the Konawaruk River, which fall within the already identified area of interest.
The new area of concentration is 60 square miles and approximately 10 miles from Mahdia based on reported sightings which are being investigated. “Unfortunately, at 17:20 hours, operations were suspended due to inclement weather and the impending sunset”, the release said. Bisnauth’s sister, Malini when contacted at 16:40 hours said that the search had already been called off at 16:30 hours. In her mind it should not have been since the place was not dark.
According to the release, the search teams were also equipped with an Emergency Locator Transmitter Locator (ELTL) – a tracking device which aids in the detection and location of aircraft.
On the ground, Tesouro Resources, a mining company, through its Finance Manager Ray Beharry, joined in the search, it said adding that two fixed wing aircraft and three rotor wing aircraft including one GDF helicopter continued the search. A Phoenix aircraft also provided assistance in the aerial search.
GCAA investigators and GDF Special Forces remain on standby in Mahdia for deployment, according to the GCAA.
Flying time logged for the third day of the aerial reconnaissance is 11 hours and 52 minutes. The total search hours flown to date is 29 hours and 54 minutes. The mountainous area which is covered with thick vegetation is said to be hampering the search efforts.
In the dark
An emotional Malini said ASL officials and others on the ground were “keeping her in the dark”. She said that when she attempted to inquire about the search operation and to collect her brother’s belongings from the ASL location near the Mahdia airstrip where he was staying, she was shouted on. Attempts to get a comment from ASL were futile.
Speaking to this newspaper by telephone from the Region Eight community, Malini said she heard on Sunday night that he was missing. She left her campsite which is located in the area on Monday and went to the airstrip to gather information.
She said no information was given to her although she inquired. She said that all she knows is that the plane with her brother on board and the pilot cannot be found. She said that at one time her brother lived with her at her camp from where she operates a dredge. According to her he began working with ASL just over two years ago and was responsible for servicing the aircraft and discharging cargo. The woman said that given the nature of the job, her brother was offered a place to stay near the airstrip and he accepted.
She said that when she heard that the plane was missing “I was speechless”, she said.
The businesswoman said that she spent the entire Monday at the airstrip hoping “to see him but nothing so far”. She said that she was particularly disappointed with the search efforts yesterday as only one helicopter took to the skies at a time while two remained parked on the ground. “They are not working to how I expected. They working on their own time. They are not working with urgency”, the distraught woman said as she struggled to fight back tears.
The woman noted that no one is even talking about a ground search.
Malini recalled that around 11:45 hours when contact was lost with the plane, the area was overcast and there was some rain. She said that she heard an explosion in the valley over the mountain. Her campsite she said is located at North Fork, Camp One district.
The woman said that during the time her brother worked on the plane he never once expressed fears for his safety. She said that while she does not want to pronounce on the fate of her brother, the fact that three days have already passed is not a good sign.
GCAA had said on Monday that investigators and GDF Special Forces are on standby for possible extraction. In a release the local aviation body stated 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 GCAA 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.
ASL sent aircraft to search the area within half an hour of no communication. Other aircraft joined subsequently and the searching continued until nightfall with no sightings.
