Operations at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) have returned to normal following Friday morning’s incident, which saw a Fly Jamaica aircraft crash upon landing.
Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt. Col (Ret’d) Egbert Field, in an invited comment, confirmed that normal operations have resumed, even as examinations of the crash scene continue.
Field also noted that that the GCAA had not yet been able to send off the Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder for decoding since it is the weekend and things are not moving as fast as they had anticipated.
Notwithstanding, continuous efforts were being made to process the crash site and the damaged aircraft.
This newspaper had reported that preliminary investigations revealed that the plane experienced hydraulic problems after takeoff and a request to return to the aerodrome was made by the pilot and co-pilot, both of whom are said to be Jamaicans.
After spending an estimated 43 minutes in the air on the way to Toronto, the plane made an emergency landing at approximately 2:53 a.m., which was followed by an immediate evacuation of crew and passengers.
Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, during a press conference at the CJIA on Friday, had explained that the Fly Jamaica aircraft would have ended up in an almost exact position as the Caribbean Airlines plane that had overshot the runway at Timehri and crash-landed in 2011. He noted, however, that though that section of the runway was not opened to airport traffic, the existing extension saved the plane from suffering the same fate as the CAL aircraft, which broke in half.
It was disclosed during the press conference that on board the aircraft were 120 passengers, including nationals from Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, the US, Canada and Pakistan.
Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, explained that several persons suffered minor injuries while using the evacuation slide and had to be taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, where they were treated and either discharged or transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital for additional tests.
Meanwhile, Fly Jamaica Airways Chairman, Captain Ronald Reece, following the accident, issued a statement saying, “We can confirm that Air Jamaica flight OJ256 bound for Toronto has returned to Georgetown with a technical problem and has suffered an accident on landing. At this time, we believe that all 118 passengers and 8 crew members are safe. We are providing local assistance and will release further information as soon as it is available.”
