…other airlines must resubmit manuals

THE majority of local flight operators will have to resubmit their operation manuals if they wish to have the aviation authority’s shuttle ban lifted.
Trans Guyana could have the shuttle ban lifted as early as this afternoon, following a demonstration of the operational procedures involving their hinterland shuttle flights. Trans Guyana was the only operator whose manual came up to par with the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority’s (GCAA) requirements. GCAA Director-General, Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Egbert Field, explained to the Guyana Chronicle Friday that the authority received the manuals of all local operators on Thursday and immediately commenced inspection of their operational procedures.

He said Trans Guyana’s manual was found to be “very acceptable” and the authority was able to sign off on the document. As part of the approval process, Field said Trans Guyana would also be required to demonstrate what is stated on the manual and that will be done today. “With that, Trans Guyana’s ban could be lifted by this afternoon.”
Field noted however, that other local operators will have to resubmit their manuals with the necessary “corrections” highlighted by the authority. He said that the authority understands the hardship being faced by operators as a result of the temporary ban placed on shuttle services, but maintained GCAA’ s commitment to address all issues that may have contributed to the mishaps and accidents that have recently claimed the lives of two pilots. That is why there are mandatory requirements and local operators will have to put these in place before the shuttle ban can be lifted, Field insisted.

On Wednesday, Field 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 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,” Field said, adding that he could not say when the suspension will be lifted.

Field 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 from 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 pertaining to policies and procedures to the GCAA soonest, so that the ban could be lifted.
Field said that once the documentation has 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 rudiments of flying in Guyana’s jungle; establishing procedures for stabilising flights and completing the GPS approaches that were started years ago for every runway here.

According to him, shuttle operations were birthed as a result of Guyana’s vast land space and the fact that the major commercial centre 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 return 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.