The co-pilot of the plane which crashed in a cane field on Saturday fatally injuring two of its passengers yesterday confirmed that an engine failed after the craft had climbed 300 feet and he and the pilot had to struggle to prevent it from plummeting into nearby houses.

Co-pilot Noel Persaud told Stabroek News from his hospital bed that had the Trans Guyana plane gotten higher in the air it would have been easier to control. Crew member Premchand Arjoon and passenger Rondel Mannie died on Saturday after being pulled from the mangled wreckage.

Inspectors were up to yesterday at the crash site trying to determine what caused the plane trouble.

Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Works, Ajay Baksh, said the inspectors were out in the cane field where the plane crashed marking off the area. He said that the pieces of the plane will be moved to a hangar at the Ogle Airstrip where further investigations are to be carried out.

The aircraft en route to Ekereku Bottom, a mining area in the Upper Mazaruni, crashed in the cane field located south of Sophia `E’ Field and East of North Ruimveldt.

The cockpit voice recorder which was retrieved will be sent to Trinidad & Tobago today to be read and it is expected to shed some light on the cause of the accident.

Those injured in the crash are pilot Sarvepaul Persaud, 39, of 65 Oleander Gardens; co-pilot Persaud, 31, of 250 Industry; Clive Mannie, 28 of 132 Atlantic Gardens; Randolph Charles, 48, of South Ruimveldt Gardens and Brian Blair, 43, of Samantha Point, Grove.

All the injured are listed in stable condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital. However, the pilot, Persaud, has been moved to a private institution and was expected to undergo tests yesterday.

Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday afternoon from his hospital bed, which was surrounded by scores of residents, co-pilot Persaud said that it was shortly after they took off that they realised that something was wrong with one of the engines. He said that the right engine of the plane failed and they were left to fly with the left. As a result himself and pilot were forced to crash-land the aircraft.

Asked whether one engine could have kept the aircraft in the air until they landed on more hospitable terrain, Persaud said this was not possible because they hadn’t attained sufficient altitude. He said if they were around one thousand feet from the ground the one engine might have kept the aircraft in the air. He said they had only reached about three hundred feet when they encountered difficulties.

Persaud said that as is required they had weighed all the items that were placed on the aircraft and there had been no problem here. He said that himself and pilot did all they could to prevent loss of lives. He added that they made sure that they did not land in any residential area and decided to crash land in the cane fields. The man, who has been with the company for the past eight years as a co-pilot, said that other than some lacerations on both of his legs and back pain he is okay.

At Blair’s bed there were many relatives giving thanks for the man’s life. The man could not recall much but said that he remembered that soon after they took off the pilots announced that there was a problem and that they should throw off some of their luggage. The man said that he was not sure what they were telling him and he decided to stay strapped to his seat. Soon after the plane crash-landed and he was later transported to the hospital. Blair was on his way to an interior location where he worked as a pork knocker.

The younger Mannie, who is the nephew of the one who died, was knocked unconscious and could not remember anything about what happened. His mother yesterday said that he was feeling better but his hands were paining and he sustained some cuts on his left foot. He also had three small stitches on his face. The young man hit his head on impact and was knocked unconscious. He was found pinned down in the aircraft. His mother said that his uncle kept calling out for him before he died. The two were on their way to the interior to set up a dredge. The older Mannie was married to Gillian and was the father of six children, Clayton, 26, Celeste, 20, Randy, 18, Toyan, 17, Rodwell, 15, and Renetta, 13. He was a carpenter.

Speaking to Stabroek News last evening the man’s daughter, Celeste said “we could not ask for a better father, he was the best father. Anything we wanted he tried his best, if it was his last he would give to us,” the young woman said.

According to her Mannie was not too keen on travelling to the interior on Saturday.

The young woman said that when they arrived at the hospital they were told that the man was in the theatre.

“After we were waiting for some time one of his cousins said she can’t take it any longer and she said let’s go and check. When we went the doctor told us that my father did not make it,” she said. The man died a little after 4 pm and according to his daughter he was already in the recovery room when he died. He died from international injuries.

The British-manufactured plane left the Ogle Aerodrome at 10:59 hrs and encountered difficulties one minute into flight time. The pilot had told the Control Tower that he was experiencing difficulties and that he was going to make an emergency landing in the surrounding cane field.

The last fatal plane crash was that of the Guyana Defence Force Islander piloted by Capt Vic Nandan which crashed near Mahdia in January 2001 killing all three persons on board.