Heavy fog on Sunday shuttered the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri preventing two international flights operated by Ameri-can Airlines and Jet Blue from landing at the airport, resulting in major delays.
Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill, yesterday told Stabroek News that from reports received, the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the CJIA is functional, however, due to its limited capability the system will have to be reviewed. He explained that the density of the fog made it impossible for aircraft to land resulting in a diversion. However, Edghill stated that with the instrument functional in 2022 it recorded only 15 diversions against 2300 landings. It was explained that the while the limit per category is 200 feet above runway, the pilot must be able to have visual reference of the terrain before being able to land.
The American Airlines Flight AAL 1513 was diverted to Piarco Inter-national Airport, Trinidad while Jet Blue was rerouted to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Stabroek News understands that both flights arrived in Guyana during the course of Mon-day afternoon. Subsequent to persons complaining of the treatment they received on board the American Airlines Flight after landing at Piarco, Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud, in a Facebook post said at the level of the Ministry and other relevant bodies, the matter was being addressed with American Airlines and Trinidad and Tobago authorities. However, in an update, he said based on information provided by Trinidad and Tobago authorities, American Airlines needs to provide a full explanation to the public, especially the affected travelers.
Roger Yearwood, who was in contact with a passenger on the flight, yesterday posted that close to 200 passengers were on board the plane and were not been granted access to Piarco Airport. He stated that they had to remain on the tarmac after American Airlines flight AA1513 from Miami was told by the Guyana Control Tower at the CJIA that the aircraft could not land because of heavy fog. The flight was expected to land at 10:37pm on Sunday but was diverted to Piarco Airport in Trinidad and landed at approximately 11:17 pm. “It is now almost 2 AM and according to the captain and crew, there has been no response from the Trinidad Authorities as it relates to letting the passengers off the aircraft, even further, the aircraft has not been assigned a gate. The crew has already reported that according to federal (and aviation) law, the crew cannot move the aircraft until they receive 8 hours of rest,” Yearwood highlighted in his post.
