THE Search and Rescue Team will be expanding their ‘foot search’ after day 10 in efforts to locate the missing Britten Norman Islander, bearing registration number 8R-GHE, which disappeared around midday on December 28.

On January 3, three teams were flown into Mahdia, Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) from Timehri by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Skyvan to assist with the search that came up yet again empty handed.
Ten members from the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC); eight ranks from the GDF Special Forces and eight line cutters from the St. Cuthbert’s Mission were inserted by helicopter into an ‘area of high interest’ to commence ground searches bordered by the North Fork and Blackwater Rivers.
Simultaneously, aerial examinations continued with two helicopters supported by two fixed wing aircraft, not only in the ‘area of high interest’ but along the pre-determined grids which were prepared by the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) at Timehri Control Tower.
A press statement from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) explained that the area of high probability was based on reports of sightings in an area above the highest peak, east of Deer Creek, approximately 10 miles southwest of Mahdia.
Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn and GCAA Director General, Zulficar Mohamed, along with members of the RCC travelled to the RCC’s sub-center in Mahdia on January 1, 2015 to assist in the Search and Rescue mission.
During a press conference held recently at the RCC at Timehri Control Tower, Mohamed noted that over the past four days the Centre had been on search and rescue operations over a plotted area that is “the most probable flight path the aircraft would have taken.”
The aerial Search and Rescue operations based at Mahdia continued on January 2; however, due to inclement weather and overcast conditions, the operations started late.
In a press statement, the GCAA noted that based on information received, the RCC identified further areas of interest in the Kurungiku Mountain, Black Water area and North Fork area. “A party is currently on the ground conducting a search of the Black Water area after completing a similar exercise in the North Fork area,” the statement said.
An Air Services Limited (ASL) aircraft transporting cargo from Mahdia to Karisparu, Region 8 (Potaro/Siparuni) went off grid around noon on December 28.The Britten Norman Islander had two persons onboard at the time, the captain, Nicky Persaud, 27, and cargo loader, Mr David Bisnauth, 51.

(Rebecca Ganesh-Ally)