This week we asked the man and woman in the street their views on the recent Caribbean Airlines crash-landing. Their responses are as follows:
Elroy Henry -Private Sector
`People are saying a lot of things. Some of them blame the pilot, some say the place was foggy and he couldn’t see and some even say he wasn’t feeling well. I think these are just excuses and he the pilot needs to be blamed for some of it. Victims should be compensated until they fully recover and for the guy who lost his leg, he should be compensated at least every month because he lost his leg for life. It don’t have to be much, just something every month.’
Nekesha Norton- Private Sector
`I don’t think it’s the pilot’s fault. I mean, if things is to happen it gotta happen. Nothing can’t change that. Yes, Caribbean Airlines should compensate the victims and the guy who had to have his leg amputated, they should compensate him till he dies.’
Monica Solomon- Self-Employed
`It’s an accident and accidents do occur. The people who were involved should be compensated. I mean, if the pilot said he made a mistake then he should be blamed. It’s his own word. The guy that lost his leg should be compensated for life and the others should be compensated according to their injuries.’
Jeffrey Smith- Private Sector
`My opinion is that the people should be compensated. It was their neglectfulness, once they were present and can prove that they were. It’s their jobs to check to ensure the safety of getting the passengers from Point A to Point B. If it’s an engine error, the person that made that error occur should be the ones offering compensation. It could be that the tower didn’t give proper instructions on the landing. It flew that far so it had to be the tower or the pilot. There was not proper communication on the landing.’
Julian Wilson- Taxi Driver
`I think it was carelessness on the part of the pilot. If there was a poor lighting system then it was neglected because he has been landing there long. Most times persons dealing with these things say that the planes explode. The victims should most definitely be compensated. It should be an estimated amount, but they can’t do it continuously. They should be compensated depending on the nature of the injuries.’
Faizool Ahamad- Public Sector
`Everything is based on the pilot. He is the man that controls the aircraft. He said it was rainy and foggy. If he had not seen that condition from up there he should have keep circling or something. If he see the condition was not getting better then he should’ve made contact with a neighbouring country to land the aircraft. I think he has been given the responsibility and the training to be very vibrant. He is the person that should be thinking very fast and I feel the persons who were on board should be more compensated and now the people who were on the aircraft should spend most of their lives in church to thank God. As for the guy whose leg was amputated, he should be compensated for his entire life and if he has family, they should take care of them because the man can’t work anymore.’
Pauline Dautaram- Unemployed
`I think that they need to be more careful and check the aircraft properly because there are so many lives involved. To me, the pilot is supposed to know about it because he is driving for so many years, he is not a trainee or something. If the injuries a person suffer are serious then they should be compensated for life. Most people use their hands and feet for so many things and now one of the guy’s legs is gone. He should definitely be compensated.’
Eliyah Ben Yehudah- Private Sector
`First of all, you must be thankful and grateful that everyone on the flight is safe. I must commend the Government for their quick response in aiding the passengers. I think that compensation will have to depend on the investigation into the accident and I hope that persons are compensated to their convenience. I hope that Guyana will now have a safer and more efficient air service.’
Peter Ron Romain- Private Sector
`I was surprised and really shocked when I heard about the accident. Maybe it was some malfunction or the pilot wasn’t seeing too well or something. The victims should definitely get compensation. If it was me who had to get their leg cut off, I would want compensation for all my life, till I passed away. Other passengers should also get compensation but not for life.’
Enneka Simon- Private Sector
`I think the passengers should all be compensated because this accident was caused due to lack of good judgement. I heard that the pilot was supposed to come down at 100 yards and he came down at 50 yards. The guy who had to have his leg amputated should be compensated for the rest of his life. Also, it wouldn’t be fair to Caribbean Airlines to offer this kind of compensation to everyone but I think they should make one huge payout to these people. They also need to perform damage control because we don’t want this to occur again nor discourage people or so to fly with the company.’
