| The search is on for one of Trans Guyana Airway’s 700 Cessna Caravan 8R-GHS and its two souls that went down yesterday morning in the densely forested, hilly Mazaruni, Region Seven area.Missing: Pilot Blake SlaterThere have been no reports of smoke emanating from the estimated crash location and the aircraft’s emergency locator beacon, which either triggers on heavy impact or manually,Adam Joseph Duhe Dolphins Throwback Jersey, did not go off.These details were revealed by Zulfikar Mohamed, Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) during a press briefing yesterday afternoon at the Air Traffic Control Tower, Timehri.Without audibly assuring that there is a possibility that the aircraft did not have a heavy impact when it crashed, Mohamed nodded in agreement that there is hope for the aircraft’s pilot,Steve Atwater Denver Broncos Throwback Jersey, Blake Slater,32, and the cargo loader, Dwayne Newton of Durban Street, Georgetown; the lone two passengers on the plane.Mohamed said that at approximately 10:56hrs the Air Traffic Control Tower received a report from another one of Trans Guyana’s aircraft that the company’s Cessna Caravan 8R-GHS reported going down after takeoff from Olive Creek aerodrome on a shuttle operation between Olive Creek and Imbaimadai.“We immediately activated the rescue coordination centre. This operation would have commenced from the area control centre which is the unit that got the initial report…The officers were all informed and the agencies which respond in the events of search and rescues were all advised and convened at the Control Tower,” Mohamed said.Rickford Samaroo, Senior Officer of the Air Traffic Control Tower was the first senior officer of the GCAA to receive the report. He related that the Air Traffic Services Unit received information on the aircraft shuttling between Olive Creek and Imbaimadai from one aircraft that heard the pilot was having difficulties and was going down.“That pilot immediately tried to get the position of where the plane was going down…He managed to only hear the latitude coordinates of the airplane which we recorded here and used it to plot the position to assume that the aircraft was flying direct between Olive Creek and Imbaimadai.”“We worked with what the pilot heard as the elapse time between the two messages- one from when the airplane was departing and one from when the pilot heard mayday, which is the call for emergency. That time is equivalent to about seven minutes and we used that to plot a possible site for where the airplane may have crashed.”Trans Guyana Airway’s 700 Cessna Caravan 8R-GHS (www.fap.fi)According to Samaroo, an aircraft belonging to Trans Guyana that was shuttling between Olive Creek and Ekereku from 10:40hrs to 11:15hrs immediately started to search the area. It was briefed on the coordinates of where the plane went down.Two other aircraft travelling from Kamarang to Olive Creek and from Kaikan to Ogle also joined the search. “…up to this time of reporting we have not gotten any information as to a possible site or any wreckage or smoke,Dikembe Mutombo Nuggets Throwback Jersey,” he said.He added that there are two helicopters in the area- one belonging to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the other to Air Services Limited. In addition, GDF’s special force is on the ground at Olive Creek waiting for information before they could launch further operations.“First of all we have to locate the site and see where the possibility of extracting the persons are. We are trying to gather all possible information from anybody who would have been on the ground at Imbaimadai or any other neighbouring area so we could use it to eliminate or exclude any other possibilities and zero-in on the search,” he added.According to Mohamed, the response to the accident was immediate since aircraft were in the area.He said, “The Mazaruni area where this aircraft went down is densely forested and also hilly. So the flight path would have taken the aircraft over that type of terrain… In the past when we had to conduct these exercises we know that it is pretty difficult to spot from the air. The search and rescue crew that is on the ground at Olive Creek is also interviewing or talking to the residents in the area who may have seen the aircraft going down or might have heard something because if you are below the canopy you don’t see much you could only hear. So they are going to use all of that information and correlate it to assist them in their search effort.”He noted that Olive Creek is the nearest populated area and “if the information we have is correct” the aircraft probably crashed between 10 and 14 miles from Olive Creek. However,Chuck Howley Cowboys Throwback Jersey, that area is home to mining operations.”According to Mohamed, the search will continue during daylight or until such time that the aircraft has been located and action in terms of extraction,Tom Jackson Denver Broncos Throwback Jersey, commences. At the end of the day the aircraft will return to Timehri to debrief officers of GCAA, GDF and Transport Minister, Robeson Benn.The search and rescue operation ended at 18:00hrs due to poor lighting,Cris Carter Vikings Throwback Jersey, but will resume today at 06:30hrs. Mohamed stressed that it is difficult to search the terrain at night. However,Barry Sanders Lions Throwback Jersey, if the ground forces have any information which can lead them to a location they would go in. He noted that the pilot, who is a Canadian by birth, has a Guyanese passport.He has been flying in Guyana for quite some time. The pilot’s experience with Guyana’s interior terrain came into question but according to Mohamed the pilot would have required a minimum of 200 hours of flying under supervision before being allowed to fly in the interior.The aircraft’s airworthiness was also questioned and to this Mohamed said,Jim McMahon Bears Throwback Jersey, “The aircraft comes under the control of an organization that has Air Operator Certificate and it is a requirement for them to have the aircraft certified.They also have an approved maintenance organization that does the maintenance for these aircraft. They are normally certified as airworthy on an annual basis and records for any works done on the aircraft are always there. Our airworthiness inspectors would normally do inspections of both the maintenance facilities as well as the aircraft operators in order to ensure that aircraft are maintained as they should be in accordance with the regulations and requirements and in accordance to their manuals too. At the end of every day the aircraft maintenance log book is completed if there is any snag it is recorded in there…”He said that a check with the US Mission Control Centre (USMCC) from which information concerning aircraft ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) signals are transmitted,Chicago Bears Throwback Jersey, has informed that they have not received any signal from the aircraft’s beacon.Pic saved in Sunday as: Trans Guyana Airway’s 700 Cessna Caravan 8R-GHS (www.fap.fi)Pic saved in Sunday as: Missing: Pilot Blake SlaterPic saved in Sunday as: Missing: Cargo loader, Dwayne Newton – pending |
