Cargo loader should not have been on flight

TWENTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD cargo loader, Dwayne Anthony Newton, who died in Sunday’s hinterland plane crash, was not scheduled to travel on that flight.But he was called away to go on the assignment at the last minute, his mother Roslyn Jacobs said at her Georgetown home, in her first media encounter yesterday morning.
The grief stricken woman recalled that it was on Thursday morning that her son left their Lot 33 Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, Georgetown residence for the Ogle International Airport, East Coast of Demerara, to join the plane which crashed on Saturday morning, killing him and the pilot in the process.
She said that, usually, he would inform her prior to travelling into the interior but, last week Thursday, he did not and she only knew he was going when she enquired and he responded.
She said, when she reminded him that it is usual for her to be informed before, he said it was a last minute decision.
According to her, normally, when her son has to travel to the interior she would get up early with him and help him prepare for his journey. She would also stand at her front door and wait until the company bus arrives to pick him up.
However, on Thursday, only a few of the routine moves were done.
Important tools
The two awoke as usual but she knew nothing about her son’s intention to travel, although she recalled he was in a hurry to leave the house and, in the process, he even forgot two important tools of his trade, his ear muffler and waistband.
Jacobs said, on Thursday morning, there was no company transport to collect him and, when he rushed out of the house, he caught public transport and made his way to the airport.
She said, from the time her son got up that morning and began preparing to leave, there was a difference from all the other times.
Jacobs said after it began raining on Friday, she started asking herself why the airline would send a flight to the area under such conditions and from that morning until yesterday she was praying for her son.
At the time she started praying, she had no idea that the following day her son would be involved in an accident.
She got the first indication that something might be wrong when her former workmate telephoned her enquiring about the names of her two sons who worked at the airport and, more specifically, the one who travels to the interior.
She said when she disclosed the information to the other woman, the latter just told her okay and advised her to take care. That was on Saturday.
Shortly after, she received a telephone call from her other son who works at the airport and he enquired about his child whom she was babysitting at the time and informed her that someone was coming to collect the infant.
The shaken woman said it was not long after that her son, his wife and another woman showed up at the house and, immediately, she realised that something was wrong. She remembered that her son walked past her and went to the back of the house.
She then demanded to be told what was happening and he informed her that “Dwayne fell out of the sky.”

Broke down
The woman said she broke down in tears as the other woman who arrived with them said her son was not dead and that everything possible was being done to reach to him and the pilot.
Jacobs said her son would usually call home whenever he travels to the interior but this was the only visit he paid to the area and failed to communicate. The longest he ever stayed away from home while on work duty was four days and that was back in December.
She had been praying for her son and the pilot since Saturday when she got confirmation that something was wrong and she prayed until yesterday morning, again, when her other son broke the sad news to her, after 09:00 hrs, that his brother and the pilot were both found dead.
“Mommy, let me tell you, stand strong; the captain is dead and Dwayne is also dead, needless I lie to you,” were his words to her, she reported.
The family had been advised earlier about the death as the dead man’s sister said she received a call from Minister of Transport, Robeson Benn, at approximately 08:30 hrs yesterday morning, informing that the bodies of both dead men had been found.
The young woman said she was reluctant to tell her mother because she wanted to do it while other persons were around, fearing her reaction to the news.
Jacobs said that her son was a hard worker and really toiled for Trans Guyana, even going to work when he was not required to do so.

(By Leroy Smith)