Still no sign of ASL plane

Another day of searching for the Air Services Limited (ASL) plane that went missing on December 28 over the Region Eight jungle ended fruitlessly.

“They continued today (yesterday) but nothing…they will continue on day break tomorrow,” Director General of The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority Zulficar Mohammed told Stabroek News yesterday.

The Britten Norman Islander, piloted by Captain Nicholas Persaud, 28, with cargo handler David Bisnauth, 51, on board, vanished without a trace, two minutes after it left the airstrip. The plane was on a routine trip from Mahdia to Karisparu in what should have been a 15-minute flight.

Mohammed said that hopes are high that by weekend the crew would be found as by then the search of most of the fly path would have been covered. “We are hoping that by weekend we would come up with something,” he said.

He explained that the search teams, aerial and ground, have been combing areas of interest looking for the crew.

On Sunday, a Canadian Twin Otter aircraft equipped with a magnetic reader, which was in Guyana undertaking works for oil exploration company CGX, assisted in aerial surveillance.