– after passenger opens plane’s emergency exit at Timehri
Minister Robeson Benn said that the flight crew of the Delta aircraft on which a male passenger opened the emergency exit when the plane landed from New York on Friday morning at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), should be sanctioned.
Benn related to Stabroek News yesterday that he has asked the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to review the matter. He added that the flight crew should have more control over the passengers on the plane.
“We’re certainly reviewing the matter and the United States Aviation Authority is also looking at it because we have received calls from them,” Benn said.
Meanwhile, CEO of the CJIA Ramesh Ghir told Stabroek News that the man was transferred to Eve Leary Headquarters from the Timehri Police station where he was initially held and investigations are continuing into the matter.
He explained that the airport was not part of the investigation, which is being conducted between the police and Delta.
Ghir said the plane was grounded as a result of the de-activation of the emergency exit and parts and engineers where flown in to fix it. The plane has since left again with 177 passengers.
Ghir said no sanctions will be pressed against the airline, but emphasized that an investigation will be carried out to ascertain what exactly happened. The investigation is also to determine whether the passenger was intoxicated, as initial reports stated.
According to sources, the Guyanese citizen returning from New York, opened the emergency exit door after the flight DL 383 landed and went down the emergency exit slide and onto the CBJ airport tarmac. The man was reportedly in the first class cabin of the aircraft. He apparently became agitated after no instructions were being issued to the passengers after the plane landed and while it waited for GCAA clearance.
Owing to the grounding of the plane after the incident, Delta Airlines provided accommodation for its outgoing passengers who had flights booked.
How stupid some ppl can get from a lil rum. He (passenger) should be banned for life from flying with Delta and/or any family airlines associated with Delta. These are the kind of ppl who give Guyanese a bad name.
The passenger only had a few glasses of alcohol and did not seem visibly intoxicated. Therefore, the flight crew was not aware that extra attention was needed.
Passengers should know their own alcohol tolerance and Flight crews should not be expected to be the rum police.
…. the following comment is in no way condoning the actions of the passenger ,, but as a frequent flyer since 1965 ,, i have had my frustrations with flights to GY since in the days of GAC ! the staff at the airport in Gy has a lot to do with the frustrations of passenger arriving and leaving ,, these people need to be educated and trained to realise that flying is a very streesful event ,, and when the plane has landed all should be put in place to relieve this stress on the passengers ,, one more very important issue that should be in focus is the very foul air in circulation when the plane lands and ,, the ac is turned off ,, it’s not so bad ,, in 1st class ,, but think of the situation in the economy class
Since when passengers open plane doors? Wait on the crew. He should be punished for endangering other passengers and the crew.
So, Minister Benn wants to Sanction Delta crew for the behaviour of one stupid Guyanese – who put the whole plane load of people’s lives in danger. What a smart fella this Minista is!
Universal Airlines, BWIA, North American and all the others that flew to Guyana at one time or another – none of them would have paid for their own engineers to fly down to Guyana to inspect the planes and to find accommodations for all the passengers who were delayed. The Minister should be on his knees thanking God that Delta is flying to Guyana, not calling for sanctions.
Lock up and sanction the Guyanese who opened the emergency door. Let him pay for all the accommodations and expenses Delta paid out. And ban alcohol on all flights.
Airlines are liabile and are responsiable for the safely of all passanger who travles on their flights. I think that the Minister is right when he talks about sanctions against the airlines, i think that a lot of airlines see the guyanese people as people who travle and they are coming to guyana to provide a service and in providing that service they have to put measures in place to deal with any or all problems that arise on their flights. Its so sad that this passange got all the way up to an emergency door and open it., what were the flight crew doing? was there a flight marshall on board? since 911 airlines are require to have flight marshall on board to help address problems as these, what if the passenger had a gun/bomb and did a terriost act on guyana’s soil? so make delta pay huges fines and let them know that they need to have more security mesaures in place. Also the airline has to put up passenger and take care of anything that needs to be done to the airline, i think that the passenger should be employed to test the airlines security, since they have employed people who try to beat security check points around the world.
agreed
I think he should b brought b4 the court, and b made 2 pay for the damages he’d
caused to the plane, and all the monies spent 2 housed passengers that were
inconvenienced.
Minister Robeson Benn needs to be examined.
What kind of comment is this?…quote “He added that the flight crew
should have more control over the passengers on the plane”.
Well what is “more control”?
Handcuff the passengers? Strap the passengers down in their seats?
Dare the Minister to elaborate?
If an idiot is bent on mischief, how can flight staff have more control over that
idiot other than the regular announcements to stay in your seats, have your
seat belts on and keep your seat in the upright position?
At landing time everyone is on alert and hoping that all goes well. Flight staff
are in their designated positions to deal with any emergency. Everyone is
waiting for that touch-down. Now this minister comes up with some outlandish
comment that bemuses the world that the flight crew should have more control over the passengers on the plane.
Carl you missed the whole truth altogether.
This passenger was fully intoxicated on the flight, yet the flight crew kept giving him more and more alcohol. From eye witnesses accounts in the same cabin he was totally drunk. Obviously the airline should be censured for their actions.
trésors de sagesse…
Imagine That Delta Came To Serve Guyana In Good Faith, And Already We Want To Hold Them Responsible For What A “Neva See Come Fuh See Drunk Fool ” Did Activating The Plane’s Emergency Chute, Don’t Worry Because It’s The Same Way America Is Coming After Those Big Chibats That Knew Roger Khan Was Up To No Good But Chose To Look The Other way For Whatever Reason, Slowly But Surely They Will Meet Their Waterloo, But Back To The Matter At Hand, To Sanction The Delta Crew Is Frivolous Indeed
cosmike, you are one of those guyanese who is in canada and allowing yourself to be taken advantage of in every aspect, and you justify it by saying that you are in their country. It is so sad that you don’t even know you damm rights. Any company/person or organization that provides a service to the public, serves that public and in serving the public they are responsible for what happens.
Mr Minister you are full of it.You should be saying thanks to Delta for its service to Guyana.
You should wait until you get all the facts before you blah blah blah.
He was, after all flying first class. So they wanted him ( the passanger) to feel very much at home, even to the inconvenience of the other passagers.
He allegedly had his own alcohol that he bought in duty free which he was drinking.
Leo, flight marshals are on high risk flights (Guyana is not high risk). Leo, flight crews are not supposed to keep watch over the emergency exits upon landing unless an emergency has been declared and the evacuation order has been given.
Based on the eyewitness, Delta might be liable for part of the blame by continuing to serve his alcohol. Delta, probably accepting part of the blame didn’t hesitate to put up the passengers that were affected.