Skyvan crash
Injured pilot flown out -investigating team in place
Miranda La Rose
Stabroek News
November 12, 2003
The pilot of the crashed Trans Guyana Skyvan was flown in an air ambulance to Orlando, Florida for medical treatment yesterday.
Sarvepaul Persaud of Oleander Gardens, sustained injuries to his head. Preliminary tests were conducted at the Woodlands Hospital and his condition was listed as serious. Saturday's crash claimed the lives of crew member, Premchand Arjoon of Annandale and a passenger, Rondel Mannie, 59, of Kuru Kuru.
The plane crashed one minute into take-off, after one engine failed. It was on its way to Ekereku Bottom in the Upper Mazaruni.
Meanwhile, from the preliminary investigations, Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Chabeenanan Ramphal said that "from the engine itself it is quite clear that the right engine failed", stressing, however, that the information was only preliminary and information was still being gathered. Ramphal told reporters at a press briefing at the GCAA Office in Prashad Nagar yesterday that the authority had assembled a six-member technical team which included two British experts to conduct the local investigations
The team is headed by the GCAA Air Worthiness Inspector, Clifton Bedaysie and comprises two GCAA operations inspectors, Captain Egbert Field and Captain Kamie Persaud and GCAA Air Worthiness Manager, Ankar Doobay. The two British experts are accident investigators from the UK Accident Investigation Board (AIB) and an accredited representative of the UK Department of Transport.
The two British experts were due to arrive in the country last night and to begin their work today.
The British experts were invited in keeping with standard international regulations which state that in cases of accidents the country in which the aircraft was manufactured, should be a part of the investigation. The Skyvan was made in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
An observer from the Trans Guyana Airways, Kempton Gonsalves, will be with the team to provide technical assistance but will not be part of the investigations.
Asked if there would be a public inquiry into the accident, Ramphal said that was up to the government to decide. The GCAA investigations, he said, were purely technical with the objective of determining the cause of the accident to prevent further occurrence.
The preliminary report should be completed within 30 days of the accident and would be submitted to the government. However, Ramphal said that the investigation might be a lengthy process.
The cockpit voice recorder would be sent to the United States National Transporta-tion Safety Board (NTSB) along with the engines, propellers, other components and fuel. The CVR, he said through communication with the Control Tower should be able to provide vital information including an indication of the altitude the aircraft had attained.
Asked why one working engine could not keep the aircraft flying when one failed, Ramphal said that normally if one failed the other should continue in flight. However, he said that the most critical stage of the flight was when the aircraft was taking off at full power or landing. Just after take-off or even on the runway, he said that one engine might stop working but the other should continue. It was part of the certification process, he said.
Asked if there was a possibility of human error, he said it was a question he could not answer as the investigations were "still very open".
He said that the team was still interviewing a lot of people in the ground especially those in the Sophia area in the path of the aircraft. The load and passenger manifest were also in the possession of the investigators but so far he said that their calculations in relation to load "are within the norms". The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft was 13,500 pounds.
Though the aircraft is about 19 years old, Ramphal said that age was not a factor in its functioning since it was judged by the flying cycle and flying hours.
Bedaysie noted that operators were required to do complete maintenance checks before certificates were granted. He noted that overhaul checks were done once the aircraft reached 6,000 flying hours. He said the Skyvan was far away from that. In addition, inspections on the aircraft are required after every 200 flying hours and no increase in time is allowed without permission from the GCAA.
Ramphal said that the GCAA was responsible for aviation safety and conducts regular inspections but maintenance is approved and delegated to the company by the GCAA following a yearly certification process which includes aircraft maintenance, the inspection and auditing of components, flight testing and flight preparation.