Georgetown: Transport Minister Robeson Benn at a specially convened press conference recently to disclosed that the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) at Timehri Control Tower has been in constant contact with their Surinamese counterparts and those from the United States Mission Coordination Centre as the search continues for the missing Britten Norman Islander aircraft.
Presently there are six other aircraft and helicopters deployed to the area to assist in the search and rescue operations. These include three Belle helicopters, one Cessna Caravan and one Cessna 206 fixed aircraft.
He was at the time addressing the media on the search and rescue mission for the missing aircraft which had one pilot and a loader on board when it disappeared on Sunday in the vicinity of Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro Siparuni). He explained that Suriname has assisted in the search and rescue mission with an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) to zero in or enhance any signal from the wreckage site. This he noted has not panned out as yet. Benn added that the rescue aspect of the mission has passed and the mission has now gone into recovery mode, noting that the search will continue. “We have been flying systematic gridlines and we have been infilling those lines on a two-mile separation and then we bring it down to a 1000 feet or 500 feet spacing in specific define areas of interest based on endurance and other issues relating to the aircraft”.
He went on to say that helicopters are used primarily because they can fly at a slow speed which gave them ample time to zero in on the areas of interest. Based on calculations, the RCC has plotted a search grid of 20 miles by 20 miles from the last time the spot tracker located the plane. Up to Wednesday evening, there were no signs of any wreckage or any indication of a crash. Benn described the areas of interest as rough mountainous terrain, heavily forested with variable weather patterns which pose a major challenge for the search team. Benn also lashed out at a media report which quoted ‘reliable sources’ contending that the only reliable sources are those who are operating out of the RCC.
He related that the RCC is well coordinated by persons of several agencies including the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Air Services Limited (ASL) and others who are behind the search and rescue mission. He said that the Centre has been doing all in its power to locate the wreckage, and as such, dispel any information that speaks ill of the operation. However, Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Zulifikar Mohamed explained that the RCC has plotted a grid with the most probable flight path of the aircraft and where it is most likely to have flown and based on information they would have determined and area of interest which is being flown systematically to ensure they cover the entire area. He also confirmed that they have received at least nine reports from persons in the area noting that those reports have been investigated but with no success. These areas include Deer River and North Fork, Region Eight, Potaro Siparuni.
“We will continue to investigate reports as they come in… we will also continue the search”, he added. He did not give a time line when the search will end while explaining that they have had challenges with respect to bad weather which would have forced them to abort their search. Annette Arjoon, Air Services Limited representative lauded the RCC for their efficiency in responding to the situation which arose on Sunday morning.
She added that the ASL team has also been on the ground since the aircraft went mission. She also noted that they have been in contact with the two families updating them and more importantly taking them on their search mission to get an appreciation of the difficulties the search and rescue mission faces on a daily basis. They will continue to lend support to the families of 27-year-old Nicky Persaud and 51-year-old, father of four, David Bisnauth. On Sunday last, the Timehri Control Tower lost communication with the Cessna Britten Norman Islander that was operating a flight between Mahdia and Karisparu, Region Eight. Based on records, the aircraft took off from Mahdia at about 11:42h on Sunday on a routine local cargo flight and the last known position was spot tracker at 11:44h.
In addition, at 16:20h, Timehri Air Traffic Control Tower made contact with the aircraft operator to establish whether the aircraft landed before implementing a search and rescue operation. After no information was received, the Air Traffic control commenced an ‘Alert Phase’ and the Rescue Coordination Centre at Cheddi Jagan International Airport was activated.
In the meantime, two Air Services Cessna 208 Caravan flying within the area were vectored to commence a search operation.
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