CAL’s ‘big scare’

YESTERDAY MORNING’S crash-landing of a Caribbean Airline Ltd (CAL) passenger aircraft at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) was a most sensational development for both the regional carrier and the airport.
The very good news is that, remarkably, there were NO fatalities, and the great majority of the estimated 163 persons aboard, including the pilot and crew members, escaped with comparatively minor injuries.
Given the reported obscured vision the pilot confronted as a consequence of heavy rains when the aircraft crash-landed on the runway, it could easily have been a serious human disaster. It did not happen, and we can all give thanks and praise, beyond the awful ‘big scare’
For all the challenges and demands faced by both CAL (the former BWIA) and the CJIA (previously known as the Timehri International Airport), they have succeeded in  maintaining a most impressive record in the safety and reliability of the services respectively provided, and consistent with internationally accepted standards.
There would undoubtedly be an official inquiry into the circumstances of what could have been a serious tragedy, with the aircraft broken in two on its ill-fated landing that sent shockwaves among all on board as well as workers and family and friends waiting on the ground.
Official responses from CAL and the CJIA authorities, as well as observations from President Bharrat Jagdeo are carried elsewhere in today’s edition.
But it is not too soon to assume that new initiatives would be forthcoming by the airport authorities and the airline for even greater precaution to ensure the safety and comfort of the travelling public making use of the facilities of CJIA and CAL, the latter now owned by the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

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