Fly Jamaica Airlines (FJA) is expected to be back on schedule today after Tuesday’s incident which left its stationary Boeing aircraft damaged at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Guyana.
Kayla Reece, interim director of marketing at FJA, has reaffirmed that the vessel was “parked in an assigned position within the apron at CJIA” when an aeroplane belonging to Caribbean Airlines hit its tail cone, knocking it off.
The early-morning incident occurred on the CJIA ramp as Caribbean Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating flight BW 527 was coming in from New York. The right wing of the CAL aircraft made contact with the tail cone of the Fly Jamaica aeroplane. Images of the FJA aircraft showed substantial damage to its tail cone. The tail cone usually serves as an exhaust pipe.
FJA currently owns and operates two aircraft. The second vessel is a Boeing 757-200, which is airworthy and is being operated on the necessary routes in the interim, Reece confirmed.
Passengers affected by Tuesday’s incident have all been re-accommodated. As it relates to the extent of the damage, Reece is quoted by The Gleaner newspaper in Jamaica as saying: “A Boeing aircraft on-the-ground team will be arriving at CJIA today (yesterday) to do a survey of the damage.”
The Gleaner report also quoted her as saying that “any updated flight schedules will be published on www.fly-jamaica.com.”
Meanwhile, Caribbean Airlines in press statement after Tuesday’s incident, said that all persons onboard the aircraft at the time had safely disembarked.
The airline also advised that the vessel had been temporarily withdrawn from service while the investigation runs its course. The expected length of the investigation into the matter has not been made known.
