Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director General, Egbert Field told reporters earlier today (Thursday) that investigations have commenced into the July 25 2017 crash of a Roraima Airways aircraft that killed Captain Collin Martin and Tuesday morning’s crash of a Wings Aviation plane at the Eteringbang Airstrip.
He noted that these probes are currently being done by the Accident Investigations Unit.
“We have commenced those investigations are they are at a preliminary stage, especially the accident earlier this week, it’s in a preliminary stage at this time. A brief on those- we have secured the engines for the first accident that should be shipped out to the manufacturers” he said.
According to the Director General, the investigators will have to look at a number of areas before they can come to any conclusion regarding the accidents.
“We do not have any findings as yet but we are hoping that we can find to a definite position as to what caused the accidents. As I said, the investigations are ongoing and we have to look at a number of areas. We have to look at the equipment, we have to look at weather conditions, we also have to look at the human factors involved- not discounting anyone of them and as we drill down, we will be able to ascertain what the cause of each accident was,” Field noted.
Furthermore, he posited that there is no concern over the age of the aircrafts operating domestically since they would have been manufactured with lengthy lifespan.
“What the Authority concerns itself about is the quality of maintenance for the aircraft and that is the reason why we have inspectors who go out and undertake surveillance exercises, looking at the maintenance organizations, also ensuring that the individuals or personnel within the organizations are properly qualified.”
The GCAA Director General added that the aviation sector has to be safe and secure in order for Guyana to experience the growth it has to achieve and to experience all that lies ahead with the various industries expanding.
