— says GCAA director general

LOCAL aircraft are subject to rigorous maintenance checks, Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director-General, Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Egbert Fields has said.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Fields in response to questions on the age of domestic aircraft operating within the local aviation circle, pointed out that they are manufactured to operate over a lifespan of years.

He said the GCAA undertakes a schedule in which the agency “keeps a very close eye on the maintenance of aircraft.”
According to the GCAA director-general, every year an aircraft operator has to apply for a certificate of airworthiness and a number of accompanying documents are submitted by the operator with reference to maintenance and equipment within the aircraft.
Once those are received by the GCAA, an inspection is conducted on the aircraft.
Fields explained that there are time-expired parts on an aircraft and explained that as soon as parts such as a propeller or a piston or a ring reaches its expiration date, it is replaced with a brand new part.
He noted that substitute parts or those made by persons other than the original manufacturer are not permitted.

Questioned whether aircraft operators have been sticking to the schedule, Fields said that it is the duty and responsibility of the GCAA to ensure that the operators comply.
He said if operators do not comply, their licence would be suspended or revoked.
“Any non-compliance can cause the revocation of the document (airworthiness licence),” he said, but noted that there are minor infringements, “but nothing that we consider to be items to endanger the safety of the aircraft.”

Fields also said that if there is paperwork with inaccurate information prepared by the aircraft operator, it is the duty of the GCAA to ascertain if it was wilfully done or by mistake, noting that a thorough investigation is undertaken.
As regards recent aircraft accidents at Eteringbang, he noted that teams are investigating the accidents.
He said that the Roraima Airways accident in which Chief Pilot Captain Collin Martin perished two Tuesdays ago, there was nothing he could recall being mentioned by investigators on the pilot’s his last words other than maybe that he was preparing to land at Eteringbang.

The second accident occurred on Tuesday this week and pilot Dominic Waddell escaped without major injuries after the single-engine Cessna he was flying crashed during take-off from the Eteringbang airstrip.
“We do not have any findings as yet, but we are hoping that we can come to a definite position as to what caused the accident,” Field said. He said investigators will have to look at a few areas during the course of their investigations, including equipment, weather conditions and human factors.