…Gouveia blasts suspension order

THE National Air Transport Association (NATA) on Thursday presented its Shuttle Procedures to Director-General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Lt. Col. (ret’d) Egbert Fields, even as one of its members, Captain Gerry Gouevia has blasted the body’s decision to suspend interior shuttle service.

NATA’s submission is in keeping with an initial requirement made by the GCAA Director-General three weeks ago for operators to submit their shuttle flight regulations and procedures. Guyana Chronicle was informed that aircraft operators were given up to the end of August to submit the documents. On Wednesday, Fields announced that all shuttle operations have been suspended following the last three plane crashes in the hinterland which claimed the lives of two pilots.

He said the suspension is as a result of a preliminary analysis of the accidents, which indicate that the common thread was the shuttle operations. “As a result of the accidents and the authority’s preliminary analysis, the authority has now taken the decision to suspend all operations until the documented procedures and policies for shuttle operations are submitted, reviewed and approved by the inspectors of this authority,” Fields said, adding that he could not say when the suspension will be lifted.

Fields noted that while shuttle operations are important to the development of the local aviation industry, they come at a risk, as they are completely different to regular passenger flights. He said, too, that while aircraft operators, with whom he had earlier in the day met, were not pleased with his decision, they were nonetheless committed to submitting their manuals and other documentation, relative to policies and procedures to the GCAA soonest so that the ban could be lifted.

Fields said that once the documentation would have been submitted, the Authority will then cross-reference them with those of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), after which each operation will be subjected to a physical inspection by the entity’s inspectors.

Last Sunday, rescue teams were dispatched to a location some two miles north of Mahdia in search of the Air Services Limited (ASL) Cessna 206 aircraft flown by Khan, after it had failed to land in Mahdia. Khan was laid to rest on Wednesday.

On July 25, Roraima Airways pilot, Colin Martin, died when his Britten-Norman Islander aircraft crashed on landing at Eteringbang, in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). Two weeks later, a Britten Norman Islander captained by Dominic Waddel also went down in the Eteringbang area, but luckily, the pilot was able to escape with minor injuries. However, the move by the GCAA did not find favour with Managing Director of Roraima Airways, Captain Gerry Gouveia. Gouveia on his Facebook page said that the move is nothing more than an emotional reaction to the accidents which occurred.

“This is a knee jerk reaction. We have not done any real analysis to come to this conclusion,” he stated, while noting that “Shuttles do not cause accidents. The pilots still have to obey and observe the same rules of flying, same technical operations of the plane, same respect for safety altitudes.”

Gouveia believes that attention needs to be paid to increasing operational control and oversight; monitoring of pilots duty times; accelerating the implementation of the ADSB SYSTEM all across Guyana; establishing a proper search and rescue system equipped with a heavy lift Helicopter; improving the national weather reporting system, the conditions of the hinterland runways and establishing security systems for the runways; organising more national aviation management safety seminars dealing specifically with the rudimentary of flying in Guyana’s Jungle; establishing procedures for stabilising flights and completing the GPS approaches that was started years ago for every runway here.

According to him, shuttle operations were birthed as a result of Guyana’s vast lands space and the fact that major commercial center is located in Georgetown. “In the past to transport supplies to the hinterland communities, the planes were loaded at Ogle and flown one hour into the hinterland then returns empty to ogle and start again. The cost of transporting supplies like that was expensive and slow, very slow.”

Gouveia said that with the expansion of the road network across the country and the rapid development happening in the mining and forestry sectors, “new and improved logistics were developed.” He said, though the Eugene F. Correia International Airport remains the main hub for all domestic carriers, additional bases were established at specific points in the hinterland just below the mountains.

“The supplies would be driven from the city to those forward bases and the planes would be positioned there; rather than flying one hour with supplies and returning empty to Ogle. The planes were now flying 10 to 15 minutes from the forward base to the villages, interior shops and mining camps spread across the hinterland of Guyana,” said Gouveia, who noted that as a result, the cost of food and other supplies became affordable for those living and working in the hinterland.

This he believes contributed significantly to the massive economic development seen in the hinterland over the years. “The mass of the people living in the hinterland now depend on these flights to support their new way of life,” Gouveia added, as he reminded that the local economy has grown significantly as a result of the expansion of the domestic aviation sector.

Currently, he said there are approximately 100 flights daily domestically, while noting that “Operators invest millions and millions of dollars into the local aviation sector.” The managing director said too that as the economy grew, aviators became creative and created logistical systems aimed at reducing the cost of living for those living in the hinterland regions. “These new systems were not developed by [the] Government; it was developed by the Private Sector,” he remarked.

Like Gouveia, Michael McGarrell of Amerindian People’s Association (APA) on his Facebook page said the move by the GCAA to temporarily suspend the shuttle operations will have “immediate impacts on some communities.” “If this is not lifted before the beginning of the new school term it means that teachers and children will not be able to get back to school. Some communities like Chenapou are not included in the domestic routes therefore the only way in and out is through Shuttle services,” the APA representative stated.

Though it is unclear when the temporary ban will be lifted, Fields did acknowledge the economic impact the move would have on not only aviators, but the mining and forestry sectors, as well as inhabitants.