— airline that crashed in Cuba was banned for operating here
AN eyewitness was apparently instrumental in averting a possible disaster in Guyana, when he alerted the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) about the poor performing Boeing 737-200 aircraft that crashed in Cuba on Friday.
The air disaster has left 110 dead. Three persons who survived the crash have suffered severe burns about their bodies and are in critical condition, the BBC reported on Sunday.
GCAA Director General Egbert Field, told Guyana Chronicle that the “concerned citizen” with aviation knowledge drew to the attention of the authority the condition of the aircraft which resulted in an investigation that barred the carrier that was being rented by Honduran company Easy Sky from operating here.
Last year, the GCAA had suspended Easy Sky’s four weekly flights between Guyana and Cuba, after it was found that the aircraft was being unsafely packed and experiencing operational difficulties.
Field said that apart from the onlooker, the authority soon received concerning notifications from the public when the aircraft experienced takeoff issues.
Information gathered indicated that the rented aircraft which bore the registration XA-UHZ was underperforming and was deliberately be made overweight with cargo.
Field said for the first time, the GCAA had demanded the flight data recorder or black box from any carrier operating here. He told this newspaper that the black box which records among other things, the flight’s parameter, speed, and height, was sent to Miami with one of the authority’s investigators to be decoded by FAA agents.
“Looking at that information, along with other concerns, we took a decision to pull their operating certification immediately,” Field related.
Apart from the black box information, one spot inspection of the aircraft had also proven that the plane was overweight with cargo packed between seats, at the back of the plane, in between and under passengers’ feet. These issues made it difficult for the plane to safely operate and a decision was taken, Field said.
The BBC on Sunday reported that one pilot described how a plane rented from Damojh airlines had dropped off radar completely some eight years ago, while another in the person of Fields, had alleged poor maintenance.
Mexican authorities say they will carry out a safety audit of the company while Cuban authorities have launched an investigation into the crash, as rescuers continue to comb through the wreckage site some 20km (12 miles) south of the Cuban capital, the BBC said.
It noted that the air disaster claimed the lives of 99 Cubans, six Mexican crew members, one Mexican tourist, an Argentine couple and two passengers from the Western Sahara.
When Easy Sky’s service was suspended in 2017, hundreds of Cubans who came to Guyana to shop were left stranded at the CJIA for a few days. Easy Sky was then allowed to charter a flight to return the Cubans to Cuba.
The banned plane bearing registration XA-UHZ was rented from Global Aerolineas Damojh, a Mexican company that wet lease aircraft for flight services.
When Easy Sky’s operation was banned, the plane would have likely returned to Global, only to be rented by Cubana de Aviación S.A., the Cuban national airline to conduct internal flights on that Spanish-speaking island.
It is said that the plane experienced difficulty during takeoff around 12:08 local time. It made contact with a house, trees and a railway track before bursting into flames. The flight was going from Havana, Cuba’s capital to Holguin city in eastern Cuba.
