(Trinidad Guardian) A preliminary report has shown that the braking system on the Caribbean Airlines Limited’s (CAL) ATR aircraft was not functional at the time the aircraft collided with a wall at Piarco Airport on Wednesday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said on Friday.
And he was also unable to say if the person steering the aircraft from the airport ramp to a hangar when the incident occurred at 11.15 pm, was certified to do so.
Imbert gave the explanations in Parliament, responding to Opposition queries on the accident. He stressed it was not a “crash” as the Opposition called it.
CAL has said the aircraft was being taxied from the ramp to an aircraft hangar when the incident happened. The aircraft was not in active service and there were no passengers or crew aboard. It was withdrawn from service and a probe started.
On Friday, Imbert said, “Preliminary reports indicate the braking system wasn’t functional at the time. However, these are just preliminary reports and it would be irresponsible to speculate on the actual cause of the accident until all investigations are complete. I’m sure (investigations) will be done in the shortest possible time.”
UNC MP Fazal Karim asked if it was normal for an engineer to taxi an aircraft at that hour of the night – 11.15 pm.
Imbert replied, “I cannot answer that in any precise detail, however, I can say the particular individual who was taxiing the aircraft was trained to do so by ATR at its headquarters in France. This is the information given to me by CAL. As to whether that particular individual was certified to taxi at that particular time of night, I cannot say, but I’ll certainly find out.”
He said CAL is doing its own investigation and the Civil Aviation Authority is doing an independent probe also to determine the root cause of the accident.
Imbert added, “I’d think CAL would most certainly consult the aircraft’s manufacturers to get their view on what caused the accident and what should be done to return it to serviceable state.”
He said all CAL aircraft were fully insured and the majority of the cost of repairs—to return it to serviceable state—will be covered by this, save for deductibles on typical insurance policies of this kind.
On Thursday, Imbert said a preliminary estimate of the repair cost was about US$1 million.
On Friday, CAL stated the cost is being assessed and this will be covered by CAL’s insurance.
CAL, in a release, stated the aircraft had been using its own power and was being operated by a licensed aircraft engineer. CAL added that a preliminary report indicated that as soon as the aircraft began to taxi, the aircraft engineer noticed that the hydraulic system was not activated.
“The result was that the nose wheel steering and braking system wasn’t available. Consequently the front section of the aircraft’s fuselage came into contact with the wall of the terminal building,” the statement said.
CAL said prior to the incident, it was in discussions with a potential lessor to obtain a wet lease to supplement its fleet using a similar aircraft type. Once the arrangement is complete, the wet lease will operate from April 8 to September 30, which will cover the busy Easter and August vacation period.
