Gouveia again stresses importance of search and rescue capacity
Aircraft owners, transport minister discussed issue a month ago
Stabroek News
May 4, 2007
An efficient national search and rescue capability to support the country's aviation sector is critical to the ongoing efforts of the public and private sectors to maximize the economic potential of the hinterland, according to Chief Executive Officer of the Roraima Group of Companies Captain Gerry Gouveia.
"Over the years we have seen an increase in air travel between coastal Guyana and the country's hinterland linked to business and tourism development and the movement of interior-based residents and if that trend is to continue the aviation sector must be supported by a modern and efficient search and rescue system," Gouveia told Stabroek Business.
According to Gouveia the very nature of the terrain and the emergencies that can arise in the country's domestic air transport service dictate that Guyana have an efficient search and rescue service that is equipped to respond.
"Frankly, such a service existed at one time but has actually declined appreciably since the mid-1980s," Gouveia told Stabroek Business.
Gouveia, an aircraft pilot and a retired Major of the Guyana Defence Force told Stabroek Business that search and rescue operations should be the responsibility of the Civil Defence Commission, with the disciplined services, the Civil Aviation Department, the Guyana Aircraft Owners Association and the Ministry of Health contributing the various human, material and technical resources necessary to ensure an efficient and effective search and rescue capability. "Our search and rescue system needs to be constantly exercised to ensure its readiness to go into operation whenever the need arises," Gouveia said.
Gouveia's observations come one week after a Britten Norman Islander commercial aircraft owned by Air Services Ltd crashed just before it was due to land at Kopinang Airstrip in the Potaro/Siparuni area. The pilot and two of the passengers on board the aircraft including a four-month-old baby perished while a woman and her son walked several miles to safety after emerging from the wreckage.
Gouveia who was trained in Search and Rescue Operations and Aviation Accident Investigation at the National Air Transport Academy in the United States, was one of several aviators who assisted in last week's search and rescue operation following the disappearance of the aircraft. He told Stabroek Business that the local Aircraft Owners Association had engaged successive Ministers of Transport over the years in both the present and previous political administrations on the issue of establishing a search and rescue body but the responses had not been encouraging. "As recently as a month ago the issue came up during a meeting between the Association and the present Minister of Transport," Gouveia said.
Asked whether the cost of establishing a search and rescue system may be responsible for the less than enthusiastic official response Gouveia said that he did not believe that was the case. "It appears to be more a question of a lack of will and a less than adequate appreciation of the importance of search and rescue as a national priority. There is also a question of a lack of appreciation of its technical requirements," Gouveia said.
And in the wake of the recent aviation accident Gouveia, who has flown in Guyana's vast interior both as an army pilot and a commercial aviator, is calling on government to accept the offer of the US National Transport and Safety Board (NTSB) to provide assistance in the accident investigation. While the accident has been linked to bad weather Gouveia said that an NTSB input in the investigation would certainly enhance the integrity of the findings.
Gouveia told Stabroek Business that the key elements of a search and rescue capacity were a helicopter with winch and rappelling capabilities and Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) Kit, fast, efficient river transport, personnel trained in jungle operations and trained medical personnel. He said that he was confident that the GDF could provide personnel from its Special Forces while most of the other resources could be provided by the public and private sectors. He added that as far as he was aware Guyana did not have a working helicopter with a capacity to undertake air search and rescue operations.
Gouveia told Stabroek Business that while he was confident that the local aviation sector was equipped with excellent aircraft and highly skilled pilots with a sterling safety record, it would be more than a little reassuring to know that in cases of emergency there existed a capacity to undertake competent search, and more importantly, rescue operations. "Those soldiers who were involved in the rescue operation are highly skilled operatives who functioned with consummate professionalism," Gouveia said.
Thirteen years ago Gouveia survived a crash while piloting a commercial flight in the interior. He told Stabroek Business that surviving passengers of crashed aircraft are best advised to stay as close to the scene of the accident as possible since their proximity to the aircraft actually increased their chances of being found. "Aviation search and rescue exercises actually set out to locate crashed aircraft in the first instance since crash site circumstances including smoke and fire actually help in the search operations. The problem is that time is of the essence in these operations since key signals like smoke can disappear quickly," Gouveia said.
Guyana's new multi-million dollar airport facility at Ogle which is being established with funding from the European community and which is expected to come on stream fully in less than two years will result in the routing of some international flights to Ogle as well as an increase in the volume of business, commercial and tourism-related air traffic between the coastal and hinterland regions.