More could have been done to alert international authorities about ill-fated Cuban plane

Rescue team members work in the wreckage of a Boeing 737 plane that crashed in the agricultural area of Boyeros, around 20 km (12 miles) south of Havana, shortly after taking off from Havana’s main airport in Cuba, May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

It is possible that more could have been done to alert the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) about the issues encountered during the local operation of the aircraft at the centre of Cuba’s recent fatal plane crash, according to Chairman of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Board of Directors Lawrence London.

The ill-fated Cuban plane, which was used by the Honduras-based airline Easy Sky through a lease agreement with Global Aerolineas of Mexico, had been grounded in Guyana over safety infractions before leaving the Guyanese market in October, 2017.

However, on May 18th, less than one month after Cuba’s national carrier, Cubana de Aviacion, began renting the over three-decades-old Boeing 737 from Mexican charter company Damojh, the aircraft crashed into a field shortly after take-off from Havana en route to Holguin, leaving 110 persons dead.