Inspectors from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Friday visited the runway of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) to gain a firsthand understanding of what transpired during the aborted takeoff of American Airlines (AA) flight 1512 on Wednesday.
Director General of the GCAA Egbert Fields told Stabroek News that investigators from the regulatory agency made the visit to the airport to assess the situation. He said that investigators will be looking at the issue holistically and will compile a report after concluding their investigation.
AA has since submitted a report to the GCAA on the incident and investigators are currently reviewing it.
On Wednesday morning, the departing flight was forced to abort takeoff after some of its tyres were damaged when it came into contact with temporary runway lights.
The CJIA, in a statement on Wednesday, said the plane was executing a turn on RWY 06 threshold for takeoff when the mishap occurred. “During the turn, the aircraft’s nose gear and right main gear tires were deflated after coming into contact with temporary threshold lights,” the statement said.
The Miami-bound flight had 127 passengers on board along with five crew members. The mishap occurred at just about 12.34 am and there were no injuries reported.
The Fort Worth, Texas-headquartered airline, in a statement issued hours after the incident, said the aircraft, an Airbus A319, had left the gate and was taxiing for takeoff when it “ran over a cable and damaged some tires.”
According to the AA statement, “The cable appears to be part of a temporary runway light solution which was not visible to the crew and no previous notice was issued to pilots.”
The statement from the CJIA and MPI refuted this. It said that the temporary threshold lights were put in place by the China Harbour Engineering Company to facilitate the runway extension works. “The appropriate Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was previously issued to advise of these works and for pilots to exercise caution when in the vicinity of the threshold,” it said.
The statement from the CJIA and MPI observed that resulting from the mishap, the aircraft became disabled, and the runway was closed. At 04:40hrs, the runway was reopened for flight operations following the relocation of the aircraft, the statement said.
The flight departed Guyana at 2 am on Thursday.
