INVESTIGATIONS into the June 12 accident which claimed the life of 17-year-old Raquel Joseph, at Ekereku Airstrip, in Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), are still in progress.

The teenager was killed by the propeller of a single-engined Cessna 172 aircraft and Director of Aviation and Safety Regulations of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Mrs. Paula Mc Adam, said reports from the pilot and others involved are being reviewed. She said there is to be a closed-door meeting with senior pilots and safety officers of all the operating entities, to achieve a one-on-one approach whereby the GCAA is expected to lay down its new operational enforcement regulations.
The plane was piloted by Captain Orlando Charles, Director of the Flight of Hope, who explained that he first met the teen and her boyfriend one week before when the two were at Olive Creek looking for a flight from that area to Ekereku.
He said when his aircraft landed at Olive Creek he was asked to take Joseph’s five-pound bag to Ekereku, considering that her clothing and other personal effects were in it.
The flyer said as he landed at Ekereku Joseph walked up to the plane from behind and enquired from the baggage handler if he had her bag and the man gave it to her.
        
Still spinning
Charles said after receiving it, instead of removing from close to the aircraft the way she had gone to it, she walked straight to the front where the propeller was still spinning and she was killed instantly.
He said he had made some efforts to prevent that from happening, because as Joseph had started to walk to the front of the plane, he immediately switched off the engine. However, she came into contact with it before it had fully stopped.
Charles posited that had he not turned off the engine, Joseph might have been minced beyond recognition.
Although still visibly shaken almost 24 hours after the incident, he told this newspaper that he has been flying for the past 13 years and had never experienced nor ever had cause to deal with the death of a passenger or anyone else while he was in the pilot’s seat.
The man said the tragedy will forever haunt him as while he did experience a few mechanical problems, a death  is unprecedented.