…Amercian Airlines forced to divert to Trinidad

THE runway lighting system at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) failed on Thursday night, forcing an inbound American Airlines flight to divert to Piarco Airport in Trinidad and Tobago.

The airport’s management stated, in a release, that portable lights were deployed for two international flights to operate during the light failure.
The management of the airport noted, in a release on Friday, that at approximately 23:30 hours on Thursday, the Airport Runway Lighting System experienced a failure due to a slack cable connection.

“This temporary cable was installed to facilitate the works currently taking place on the extended section of the north-eastern runway,” the airport’s management said.
The portable runway lights were immediately deployed along the entire length of the runway and facilitated the departure of Suriname Airways at 12:12 hours.
It was noted that a Caribbean Airlines flight, BW 605, arrived from Port- of- Spain, Trinidad.
The American Airlines flight was diverted to Piarco , leaving many passengers clueless as to the diversion. The airline was making arrangements to transport the stranded passengers to the CJIA on Friday.

The airport’s management noted that the portable lights comply with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The main runway lighting system has since been repaired.