-Easy Sky operated plane on lease 

In April  2017 , Guyanese aviation authorities had banned the aircraft which went down in Havana , Cuba on Friday from operating into the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) after it was found that the plane was not safe to operate here.

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) had more than likely prevented possible disaster from happening locally since the aircraft was just last year ferrying Cubans between Guyana and the Spanish- speaking island.

GCAA Director General , Egbert Field noted on Saturday that the authority’s inspectors had the aircraft , a Boeing 737 -200 series plane bearing registration XA-UHZ , under scrutiny . This resulted in Easy Sky , the Honduras company which leased the plane from Global Aerolineas of Mexico, being suspended last May . As a result hundreds of Cuban passengers were stranded at the CJIA when the suspension took effect.

“Because of the diligence of our inspectors at GCAA, we stopped the aircraft from flying which affected the operations of Easy Sky and left Cuban passengers stranded,” Field said Saturday .

Last May airport sources told the Guyana Chronicle that persons on the air side of the CJIA noted that the Easy Sky’s aircraft was utilising the entire length of the main runway during take-off.

Easy Sky started ferrying Cubans to Guyana in October of 2016, eventually operating four flights weekly. Reports are that the company no longer operates into the CJIA.

On Friday around midday Cuban time, the aircraft was operating on behalf of Cubana de Aviacion,  performing flight CU-972 from Havana to Holguin ,  when it lost height shortly after takeoff . Most of the passengers perished.

Cuba’s Ministry of Transport reported the aircraft belonged to Global Aerolineas Damojh based in Mexico. In the evening the Ministry confirmed XA-UHZ was involved in the accident.  Cuba’s President,Miguel Diaz-Canel  reported the aircraft carried 104 passengers and 9 crew.