Roraima ground handling staff willing to talk with GCAA - Gouveia

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is continuing its investigation into the July incident in which a passenger on a Delta Airlines flight to Georgetown activated the aircraft’s emergency landing chute to exit though GCAA Director Zulficar Mohamed told Stabroek Business earlier this week that the pace of the investigation is being hampered as a result of difficulties associated with getting witnesses to the incident to come forward.

Gerry Gouveia

“The investigation is continuing but we are having difficulties getting witnesses to the actual incident.”  Mohamed told Stabroek Business in a telephone interview earlier this week.

Stabroek Business, however, has learnt that members of staff of Roraima Airways, the company responsible  for Delta’s ground handling operations at Timehri and who witnessed part of the incident are prepared to speak with the GCAA in order to assist in the investigation.

Roraima Airways owner and Chief Executive Officer Captain Gerry Gouveia told Stabroek Business that members of staff of the company who were at work during the incident and who can attest to at least part of the incident are yet to be approached by the GCAA. “There are aspects of the incident including the conduct of the passenger after he had deplaned that were witnessed by members of staff of Roraima Airways and it is my view that what they witnessed can assist in the investigation. Our position is that where matters of airline safety are concerned no effort should be spared to come to an understanding of what actually happened and how we can prevent it happening again.

Gouveia told Stabroek Business that while he believed that the GCAO was serious in its pursuit of the investigation, he was concerned that the probe be “wrapped up” at the earliest possible time. Asked whether he considered the incident a minor one given the fact that no one was injured the veteran airline pilot said that no incident that has implications for airline safety can be deemed to be a small one. “Apart from  the safety element in the incident there is also the issue of the cost to the airline for remedying the damage,” Gouveia said.

Meanwhile, another source in the aviation industry told Stabroek Business that the statement made by Transport Minister Robeson Benn in the wake of the incident in which he appeared to be placing the responsibility for the occurrence at the feet of the Delta Airlines staff  was “unhelpful, perhaps even counterproductive in the context of a proper investigation.” The source described as “inexplicable” the remarks made by the Minister, adding that he could not fathom the reason why an official statement on the incident could not have awaited the outcome of an investigation at which time there would have been “more ample basis for making an informed statement.”

Meanwhile, Gouveia told Stabroek Business that insofar as he was aware it was the very first time in aviation history that such an incident had occurred. Gouveia, a qualified aviation safety expert said that it was “decidedly in Guyana’s interest” that our aviation sector does not become linked to questionable aviation safety practices.