A father of six died last evening at the Georgetown Public Hospital following a collision with an aircraft which resulted in his left hand being severed on Wednesday around 16:00 hours.
Winston Francis, 47, rode his motorcycle into the propeller of a small plane as it was landing at the Imbaimadai airstrip, Region 7.
Relatives were told by doctors that the man died due to brain damage and they had slowly lost him.
The man was air-dashed to the GPH in severe pain after he suffered several gashes about his body on Wednesday night.
The pilot of the Piper Cherokee Six aircraft, Bernard Singh, who spoke to Stabroek News prior to Francis’ death, said he had already landed and was slowing down when he noticed the motorist making his way across the airstrip. He said that with Francis directly in his path, he swerved the plane to the left and stated that it was at this moment that the motorist realized that the plane had landed and swiftly made a U-turn, leading him into the propeller of the plane.
“If he had gone straight he would have been clear,” Singh said, explaining that the engine of the aircraft immediately failed when Francis made contact with the propeller.
The pilot insisted that there was nothing much he could have done at that point as he had already landed.
He further stated that since it is necessary for residents of that village to use the airstrip as it divides the community, it is their responsibility to take precautions when crossing.
However, Singh explained that due to the sound of the motorcycle, Francis would have been unable to hear the aircraft’s approach.
“If he was walking, he would have heard but with that motorcycle, he couldn’t hear anything,” the man said.
Singh indicated that he is a miner and the owner of the aircraft. “I’m a miner and the plane is used to supply my business, it is privately owned,” he told Stabroek News.
Meanwhile the dead man’s wife, Audrey Francis, was in a tearful state after visiting her husband earlier in the day. The woman’s relatives indicated that he did not “look good at all”.
Francis’ nephew-in-law told this newspaper that along with the severed hand; he suffered a deep gash to the left side of his face, chest, ear and forehead.
Audrey stated that on arrival at the GPH, her husband was still conscious but in a lot of pain.
Audrey had told Stabroek News that her husband, a farmer, had just returned home from work when she asked him to run an errand at the shop.
She said that it was while he was returning home that the accident occurred.
One relative revealed that a member of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority had approached them and requested an official statement from the dead man’s wife which they said would be used for an investigation into the matter.
