Five persons, including a toddler, escaped with minor injuries yesterday after a Roraima Airways aircraft crash-landed in the vicinity of the Haags Bosch Sanitary landfill facility, on the East Bank of Demerara, after experiencing mechanical problems.
The Ministry of Public Works and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) confirmed the incident, which took place around 11.30 am.
The aircraft, a Britten-Norman Trislander bearing registration No. 8R GRE, was expected to land at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport, Ogle.
It departed Imbaimadai, in Region Seven, around 10.20 am.
There were two adult passengers, a two-year-old child as well as two crew members on board at the time.
Immediately after the incident, a search and rescue operation was activated by the Timehri Control Tower and ranks from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) were mobilized and dispatched to the scene.
The injured persons were transported by a GDF helicopter to Camp Ayanganna and later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) for medical evaluation.
One of the injured persons sustained a broken leg.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Public Works said that a team from the GCAA had been dispatched to the scene to commence an investigation.
While the cause remains unknown, the ministry said that the aircraft was forced to crash-land in a swamp-like area after it experienced mechanical difficulties.
At the scene yesterday, investigators had cordoned off the area where the plane crash-landed. The area is surrounded by piles of garbage, heavy machinery and huge rocks.
Members of the Joint Services were present in their numbers and a small group of persons from various agencies had gathered.
The injured persons were quickly taken out of the aircraft and placed into GDF’s recently acquired Bell Helicopter and transported to the city.
A short video of the crash-landing, which was circulated on Facebook and seen by Sunday Stabroek, showed the descending from the sky and landing amongst thick vegetation. It remained intact even after it crash-landed.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Roraima Group of Companies, Gerry Gouveia, in a statement, expressed gratitude to the relevant agencies for their “quick response”.
“Roraima Airways would like to sincerely thank the GDF for it rapid response and dispatch of the BELL 412 Helicopter to the accident site,” he said.
“We would also like to thank the Guyana Police Force, the GPHC and the Sherriff Medical ambulance services for their prompt and efficient emergency response,” Gouveia added.
