A YOUNG hearing-impaired man of Region Ten narrowly escaped death or serious injury yesterday after he walked onto an airstrip and into the path of an Air Services Limited craft that was conducting a training flight and was in the process of landing at Kwakwani, in the Berbice River.Reports indicate that as the young man ran across the airstrip, the pilot, in an effort to avoid hitting him, swerved the 8RA55 aircraft, causing it to tilt and damage its right side wing. No one was injured as a result of the near miss.
Following the incident, safety engineers from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, together with the police, presented themselves at the location to conduct investigations and take statements from several witnesses to the incident.
In a statement issued yesterday, Transport Minister Robeson Benn was very concerned about the development, and again raised concerns about persons trespassing and entering airstrips for various reasons, including to graze cattle and to use the airstrips as roadways.
He was quoted as saying that this recent development underscores why the Transport Ministry stresses the importance for the nation to understand that “An aerodrome is only for the use intended (to land aircraft).”
By noon yesterday, the Assistant Regional Executive Officer of Region Ten, Ms Leola Narine, had informed that everything at the airstrip had returned to normal and was under control, and those pilots who were on training flights were being brought back to the city.

(By Leroy Smith)