An American Airlines (AA) aircraft, which was preparing to depart the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) yesterday morning, had its takeoff aborted after some of its tyres were damaged when it came into contact with temporary runway lights.
A review is underway even as local authorities and the Fort Worth, Texas-headquartered airline issued slightly differing version of events. According to an AA statement, the aircraft, an Airbus A319, had left the gate and was taxiing for takeoff when it “ran over a cable and damaged some tires.”
A statement from the CJIA and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) said that the plane was executing a turn on RWY 06 threshold for takeoff when the mishap occurred. “During the turn, the aircraft’s nose gear and right main gear tires were deflated after coming into contact with temporary threshold lights,” the statement said.
The Miami-bound flight had 127 passengers on board along with five crew members. The mishap occurred at just about 12.34 am and there were no injuries reported.
According to the AA statement, “The cable appears to be part of a temporary runway light solution which was not visible to the crew and no previous notice was issued to pilots.”
The statement from the CJIA and MPI refuted this. It said that the temporary threshold lights were put in place by the China Harbour Engineering Company to facilitate the runway extension works. “The appropriate Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was previously issued to advice of these works and for pilots to exercise caution when in the vicinity of the threshold,” it said.
AA said that it was following up with local airport authority as it investigates the matter.
The statement from the CJIA and MPI observed that resulting from the mishap, the aircraft became disabled, and the runway was closed. At 04:40hrs the runway was reopened for flight operations following the relocation of the aircraft, the statement said.
“An internal investigation has been launched to determine the circumstances leading to the aircraft coming into contact with the lights,” it said, while adding that the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has also been called in to conduct an independent investigation.
The flight was scheduled to leave at 2 am this morning.
It is the latest incident that has befallen the American airline in recent weeks. Two Saturdays ago, an AA flight was forced to return to Guyana after the aircraft encountered issues with its cabin pressure. The airplane had to circle for about two hours in a bid to burn off fuel before it could have landed.
The airline was only allowed to return to the skies after necessary corrective measures were taken to remedy the pressurisation issues and GCAA inspectors were satisfied with the corrective work.
