- occupants presumed deada
With no sighting after two weeks, Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn yesterday called off a search and rescue mission for a missing US charter plane, saying its three passengers are presumed dead.
James Wesley Barker
Benn, who said it was a difficult decision to make, told a press conference that it was futile to continue the search after 15 days with no sign of the three men who were aboard the Beach King Aircraft. Americans James Wesley Barker, 28, and Chris Paris, 23, the Captain and First Officer, respectively, along with Canadian Patrick Murphy, a geophysics technician were on board the plane. The aircraft was chartered from Dynamic Aviation Inc by Terraquest Ltd to conduct geophysical surveys on behalf of Prometheus Resources (Guyana) Inc, a subsidiary of the Toronto-based U3O8 Corporation. The aircraft was scheduled to operate in the Chi Chi – Imbaimadai area located in Cuyuni and following four hours, thirty minutes in the area it was expected to return to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
“As difficult as it may seem we have done everything that we could do or that we can possible do… We have expended all the resources, the time and the effort that we could at this stage of the game [and]…until anything else happens we have concluded that the aircraft and its occupants are lost,” Benn said. “We are calling off the search… We presume that the aircraft and its occupants, that there has been a crash and both the aircraft and its occupants are presumed lost.” According to him, the men “perished” and the authorities are not in the position to recover them. “We have no specific knowledge of their whereabouts,” he said.
However, Benn said the companies plan to continue limited search operations in the area where the aircraft went missing, using residents and persons who know the area.
Chris Paris
Faced with criticism that the search and rescue operation may have been put into motion much too late after the last contact with the aircraft on November 1, Benn said that there was no way aircraft could have flown into the area the same day because of the bad weather and the terrain. The minister described the operation as the “most intensive and sophisticated search for any aircraft missing in Guyana.”
Head of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Zulfikar Mohammed also told the media that immediately after contact was lost with the aircraft, personnel from the authority, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), British military, Terraquest and local aircraft operators begun planning for the search and rescue mission. “The two British Lynx helicopters, a fixed wing aircraft and GDF Special forces were put on standby; however due to the lack of the ELT [Emergency Locator Transmitter] signal being received, terrain, a poor weather report in that area and other logistics it was considered unsafe to a launch a search on the night of the 1st of November,” Mohammed said.
On the first day of the search, eight aircraft were used, with six the following day but after nine days of intense aerial search using specialised equipment nothing positive was found. The search continued with more emphasis on ground searches in specified areas and limited aerial search by a Dynamic Aviation King Air to gather areas of interest for forensic analysis.
Mohammed said it was after some 200 hours and 28,260 miles of aerial searching with no sighting of the plane, it was decided that the search will continue using ground patrols only. He said in addition to the search conducted by the aerial and ground parties the police and the Special Forces were also checking on any reports made by residents in the area.
Benn said that during the search imaging techniques were used with the support of the company which owns the aircraft. There is a complete acquisition of photograph record in the area and that record is being analysed locally and in the United States for information for future operations. While saying it is distressing that they have been unable to locate the aircraft or its occupants, Benn sought to assure the public, the organisations concerned and the families of the missing men, “that we have, both the Civil Aviation Authority [CAA] and the government of Guyana, that we have done everything that we could under the circumstances and that our thoughts and hopes and best wishes are with them.”
Fending off the criticism, Benn said the search procedures Guyana signed onto with the International Civil Aviation Organisation were followed. He pointed out that the aircraft was equipped with a special satellite tracking system, which is subscribed to by the company that owns it and it sends of a signal every half an hour. He said the aircraft flew at 150 miles an hour, or two miles a minute, so in the period it was not heard from it could have flown quite a few miles.
He said while they had planes on standby to fly out in the area on the day it lost contact, because of the weather it would have been “unconscionable at that time, our knowing the terrain in which they had to fly, the time of the day [to allow them to fly.]” The minister pointed out that sunset is now at 5:30 pm and on escarpment in the area the actual sunset below there will be much earlier. “For those persons in the GDF air wing and for those other persons in the British military who themselves or otherwise were prepared to sacrifice themselves… it would have been the wrong thing in any event to have attempted that in the absence of any fixed [location] to go out to investigate.”
He stressed the mission faced tremendous difficulty without a firm location and no access to the area because of the weather. He said there were times when the helicopters were flying over the area and could not see the ground because of the weather. By 9:15 the following the morning, the search aircraft were flying over the area. By the same evening two aircraft that were coming out of the location were asked to make radio contacts as they flew over the general area where the aircraft would have gone missing.
However, Benn said “everything we can do can be done better, particularly in hindsight,” but he stressed again that international procedures were followed. “The fact of the matter is Guyana’s terrain in that area is what it is and we can’t change it…. It is possible that the plane could have crashed against the escarpment and tumbled amongst the large boulders and tress at the bottom and covered…” he said.
Meanwhile, Benn revealed that a draft search and rescue policy document is in the pipeline and it involves not only aircraft search and rescue but maritime search and rescue with the intention or forming an organisation or body which coordinates such operations. He said that the CAA authority and the Maritime Administration are in the process of perusing the document.
But he added that in respect to aircraft search and rescue he does not see how it could have been done other than the way it was done during the search for the missing aircraft. The minister said while any “useful criticism” will be welcomed, “I don’t think it would help anybody for people to go off and say they are setting up their own search and rescue thing, particularly at the aviation level. Obviously it would have to be brought into the particular normal framework and that framework which normally works.”
For some reason, besides agreeing with SandHurst I also feel this is way too mysterious. Planes go down all over the planet & some fragment is ALWAYS found except for those cases in the Bermuda Triangle. Why can’t we find an aircraft in 83,000 sq. miles??? Come on US Ambassador, these are your citizens, do what you need to to bring this search to an acceptable end. These men have relatives & friends who are interested in them & would love to bring this episode to an acceptable closure. It cannot be that hard to do a proper seacrh. We all know of Guyana’s inefficiencies.
As I mentioned before, the Imbaimadai region is under 60 nautical miles from the Venezuelan border, the plane could have entered that country’s airspace. It could have crashed or forced to land there. We should not discard this possibility. They might still be alive, but not where we can find them. The search lasted longer that I imagined. God’s will be done.
If the plane ended up in Venezuelan airspace it could only be for one reason, and it wouldn’t have crashed there!! The plane had Global Positioning systems on board it could get lost laterally – only vertically – like hitting into high ground!!
SSDD
Fifteen days is a long time for a search& rescue team to be out there. It’s very surprising the us/cad. govt. did not get involved. it’s still nice to know what really happened to the missing aircraft, if it is only to give the families some closure, according the above blogger. Miracles do happen.
i think 15 days is a long time ,,,,,,if the plane indeed crash in the jungle ..somthing wolud have beed detected…..they need to check to see if the plane was indeed doing a survey or some illegal activity run…..and went to its destination…….to do its drop off….
My belief is the plane went off course due to bad weather and ended up in Chavez’s Venezuela. Since the crew were Americans, the Venezuelan’s are holding the crew under the suspicion of spying on Venezuela and refuses to alert the Guyana, Canadian and American governments.
I’m amazed the American embassy nor America did not assist or provide equipment to find their citizens (at least we aren’t informed by SN if they did).
Maybe the Americans know that the crew is in Venezuela that’s why it made no sense “assisting”.
Very tragic indeed for the loved ones of the missing.
Mackydog – you know that I sometimes have the same suspicious thinking as you and I am more and more coming to that same conclusion. I believe that the Southern Command in Miami knows exactly where that aircraft is. I also think that the US authorities are well aware of what is going on. It just may be possible that the time is not right to do whatever has to be done so they are playing ‘possum.’ Remember that there is an administration transition going on in Washington so they may be waiting to see how the new suits want to deal with it.
Like I suggested before, the plane might be high up and not down below. All that I can suggest at this time is that all pilots flying into and over the area in which the plane is thought to have gone down, be asked to keep a look out and report anything that appears to be a possible sighting.
I do not believe that the Venezuelans or government of any border nation would have remained quiet this long if they had somehow captured the pane and it’s crew. I do believe that if any of the men were still alive and not seriously hurt, they would have found some way of communicating with someone by now. After the length of the elapsed time since the disappearance of the plane, any continued efforts to search for the plane and men should focus on recovery and not rescue.
I will not offer condolences to the family and friends of the lost men as we still do not know with any degree of certainty that they are dead.
At last – someone with a brain!! Good on you Richard!
I really don’t understand how there was an ELT signal and they couldn’t find it – were they using an ELT direction finder?? I am made to believe that there is at least one of those in Guyana. We need to know if they used one – if not why not??
SSDD
CHEMIST YOU SEEMS TO BE MIXING THE WRONG DRUGS IN YOUR COMMENTS YOU CAN KILL PEOPLE WITH OVERDOSE
This search must comtinue. The E.M.T was being picked up two weeks after the plane went down, just because it;s supposedly bouncing off canyon walls which makes it hard to locate this alone should tell you someone survived. The E.M.T usually only has a short battery life. For it to work for two weeks means somebody must be shutting it off at night to safe power. This kids are alive and both Canadian and Americian governments need to step up and find them.
Remember, the Venezuelans are at no time happy when foreigners start looking for anything under Guyana’s soil, especially when they claim that soil is theirs. Some of you may remember the “Home oil” affair. The Canadian pilots were were given a rough time by the Venezuelan Authorities back then. I personally do not trust the Venezuelans. Their interest in owning the lion’s share of Guyana is not a joke. The plane could be in Venezuela, and the crew detained. At this time, I am considering all the possibilities. I will only agree that the plane crashed, when the wreck is found. I am military trained, so I choose to think as military.
The American government is helping.. we (Wes’s friends and family) have spent a lot of time contacting government officials and the military. Special equipment called LIDAR should arrive in Guyana tomorrow, Wednesday for use by their company Dynamic Aviation.
Please do not give up hope, continue praying for these men. The more support the better the chances.
You cannot believe everything you read, as it is not all true. Yes, they did call off the search themselves but are still encouraging us to keep searching privately.
Never giving up hope. I love you, Wes!
I HAVE A WILD THEORY, IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THIS AIRCRAFT MAY HAVE CRASHED IN VENEZUELA OR EVEN SHOT DOWN? REMEMBER THIS WAS AN AMERICAN AIRCRAFT THAT HAD SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT TO LOOK DOWN BELOW, AND A NERVOUS VENEZUELA NOT BEING ON GOOD TERMS WITH UNCLE SAM. JUST A WILD GUESS.
mark simon you said it well.finding uranium in guyana is big bisiness and poses a great security risk in the area. this is huge the big dogs will do anything to keep this low keyed. and hopes it goes away remember the lease expires pretty soon for the canadian company that is looking for uranium there.
that is also a good reason why a us ship is based only 17 miles off shore doing good deeds, with another one taking its place when it heads to haiti. that now brings 2ships in the area.