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While other persons injured in the crash have been discharged from hospital, Mrs Arjune-Martins said, ASL’s priority is to ensure that all the injured are able to recover quickly, and that those still hospitalised are all discharged.
Asked about the way forward relative to the operations of the company in light of the accident, Ms. Arjune-Martins explained that the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is currently investigating the accident, assisted by the ASL.
She said the company is not interested in doing any investigation of its own, but is cooperating fully with the GCAA; and findings/recommendations flowing from the investigation would be accepted in good faith, given that the company is part of the investigation and would be fully aware of what is of concern to the GCAA.
She declined to elaborate on the present situation and what occurred on Monday, but promised to brief the press once the investigations are complete. She promised that all questions posed to the company would be most concisely answered.
Asked about the insurance coverage of the plane and possible financial assistance to those who had had to be admitted to hospital, Ms. Arjune-Martins said that all those things depend on the outcome of the investigation. She pointed out that the ongoing investigation being conducted by the GCAA, assisted by ASL, is taking every single thing into consideration, and insurance and compensation, where necessary, are not left out.
It is likely that those persons who had had to be admitted to hospital may be eligible for some form of compensation for the inconvenience they had experienced; but it is not clear if those who were just treated for minor bruises and sent away would likely be compensated for the traumatic experience.
What was, however, pointed out to the Chronicle by Mrs. Arjune- Martins is that ASL would be following the books relative to the investigations and the necessary and appropriate actions to be taken.
On Monday, approximately one dozen persons, including a female pilot, escaped death after the Cessna aircraft in which they were travelling, 8R ANS crash-landed at the Matthew’s Ridge Airstrip in Region 1.
The plane had earlier taken off from the Ogle International Airport, and was attempting to land at Matthew’s Ridge during bad weather when it missed the runway.
Transport Minister, Robeson Benn, speaking with this publication shortly before the injured were brought to the Ogle Airport, explained that his initial information suggested that there were 11 persons onboard the craft, including the female pilot.
Luckily, there was no loss of life resulting from the accident, but the female pilot, whose name was given as Captain Feriel Ally, suffered severe lacerations to the face and hands, while a male passenger suffered a broken leg.
Minutes after the accident, the injured were placed on another flight and air-dashed to the Ogle International Airport. They were treated at different city hospitals, including the Georgetown Public Hospital Cooperation.
The GCAA was, on Monday, instructed by Transport Minister, Robeson Benn to launch an immediate investigation into the crash, to ascertain if all procedures were followed prior to the landing, and to determine the cause of the accident.
Earlier this year, the local aviation industry was hurt after a plane conducting surveys crashed into a house in an East Coast Demerara village shortly after takeoff from the Ogle International Airport.
That accident, which claimed the lives of the two people onboard that aircraft, occurred just days after the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority had wrapped up a month of activities to mark one hundred years of flying in Guyana.
