A LIAT airline plane which took off from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport yesterday morning declared an emergency after losing a wheel in flight shortly after take-off.

Information reaching the Guyana Chronicle stated that a passenger who was looking through the window observed the wheel falling from the aircraft and raised an alarm.
Checks by the pilot revealed that indeed a wheel was missing and the pilot declared that it had an emergency. The aircraft which was en route to St Vincent was directed to divert to Barbados for emergency landing.
This publication was told that the decision to instruct emergency landing at Barbados was because of that country’s emergency capabilities, an aviation source explained.
According to the aviation source, had the plane proceeded to its original destination and attempted to land with only one side wheel, the plane could have toppled since the other side would have given way. This publication was unable to get from airport sources which side of the aircraft lost its wheel.
This newspaper was also told that following the incident, the response team at the CJIA searched the entire surroundings of the airport, but failed to locate the wheel of the aircraft.
The development of an aircraft losing its wheel in flight is not a usual occurrence, according to the source who spoke with the Chronicle. This newspaper was also advised that had there been proper inspection of the aircraft before its take-off, any existing problem would have been detected.
It was also reported that the local aviation authority in Guyana will not be dealing with the incident lightly and an investigation is reportedly already underway, since from all indications, there was not a proper inspection of the aircraft, if any at all, before take-off. Inspection is a part of the SOPs before aircraft take-off.
The plane was parked at the CJIA for sometime before take-off yesterday morning.