Trinidad Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar visited the crash site last evening and said it was a miracle that no one had died in the accident. It will no doubt have an impact on the reputation of Caribbean Airlines and ultimately the tourism industry, she said, but working together could minimize the damage.
Persad-Bissessar shortly after touching down at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport just before 8 pm, travelled to the crash site in the company of her some of her cabinet ministers, as well as Transport Minister Robeson Benn, Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and aviation officials. They assessed the damage and at one point the Trinidad Prime Minister could be seen wiping her eyes, her shock at the state of the aircraft evident in her facial expression.
She was overheard telling members of the delegation who were with her that the sight was unbelievable.
The minister had brief meetings with government and police officials before addressing members of the media shortly before 9 pm.
She said out that she is deeply saddened by what has happened in Guyana, especially knowing that the passengers and the crew would be traumatized by what has occurred. She said that she and her government empathized with the victims. Her country, she assured the media, is doing all it can to assist Guyana in offering some comfort to passengers and crew members.
“I think that we do empathize with their trauma. At the same time I think we can view this as nothing short of a miracle. I have seen the aircraft.
I have seen what occurred there and it is a miracle that there have been no fatalities and so we thank God for that mercy,” she said. She also thanked the hospital staff for their assistance to the injured.
She went on to say that we should all depend on the experts both from overseas and Guyana, and would be looking to declare what when wrong following their investigations.”Obviously something did go wrong and the investigators will help us to determine what went wrong,” she added.
Officials of the US National Transportation and Safety Board, according to Persad-Bissessar will be arriving in Guyana this afternoon and will be working with civil aviation experts from Trinidad and Guyana.
“We are very anxious to find out what went wrong. We need to do that as quickly as possible so that we can avoid any further incidents” she emphasised.
She told reporters that she felt it was her duty to come and lend support, since Trinidad is the owner of the airline and also because the two countries are Caricom partners.
Responding to questions from the press she said that the aircraft is insured and that she was hoping that the insurance would assist in meeting the expenses that may be incurred as a result of the accident.
She said that her government would have to take into consideration the impact this would have on the airline and also its possible effect on the tourism industry, not only in Trinidad but the Caribbean destinations that the airline serves. “We will try to do as much damage control as we can,” she said, adding that following the outcome of the investigation the airline will recover. She said there is no doubt that there will be some impact adding that the news of the crash is already all around the world.
“There will be some downside but I am sure that we can together look towards minimizing such an impact,” she said.
At an earlier press conference, Benn confirmed that four of the thirty-five injured passengers have been admitted to hospital. He told reporters at a press conference in the airport’s conference room that the most serious injury so far is broken legs. He said that they have seen two such cases so far.
Minister Benn said that presently the airport is working with passengers. He commended the work of the Guyana Fire Service who he said stood ready at the crash site with foam and water in case of a fire.
He said that luckily there was no fire or leaking fuel from the damaged craft. Members of the joint services secured the site, especially since luggage was left on board as the injured passengers were taken away for medical attention.
Benn said that when he arrived around fifty minutes after the crash, one ambulance was already on site attending to four persons. It left with them about three minutes later and several others were on their way.
He told reporters that two doctors had set up a triage area and were tending to injured passengers.
He noted that the passengers were severely traumatized; 96 of them were the holders of American passports most of whom may be Guyanese; 44 are holders of Guyanese passports while the rest hold Canadian passports.
According to Benn arrangements were made for the removal of the tail to avoid any obstruction on the runway so that flight operations could return to normal.
He said too that operations resumed at 11.30 am with two departures and one landing. He gave assurances to the travelling public that every effort is being made to ensure flight operations into and out of Guyana are resumed.
Responding to a series of questions from reporters Minister Benn stressed that he is not aware of any deficiencies on the airport runway, and that there is an upgraded instrument landing system.
He said that they are awaiting a full report on the matter before more information is released.
At the moment his ministry is working with a number of agencies in getting all the facts together and having it ready and available, he explained.
He later told reporters that there is very little information that could be released at this time and that he did not want to speculate on anything. He said that a special team from Boeing who are the manufacturers of the aircraft will be arriving here today, and that officials here are also in touch with their counterparts in Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados.
Benn said that the cockpit recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered and will soon be evaluated.
The last time there was an incident similar to the one yesterday, he told reporters, was in 1984.
