Dear Editor
Below is the full letter by Gouveia
Dear Director-General,
PLEASE find outlined below my personal views and comments as they relate to aviation safety and security in Guyana currently.
Aviation Safety in Guyana
The aviation sector has been met with three separate and distinct accidents over the last two months , accidents which were totally unconnected and spread the profiles of flight, such as the landing phase with an empty aircraft , the take-off phase with cargo and the descent phase with an empty aircraft crashing into a mountain. These accidents garnered much concern from the general public , the Government , the stakeholders and The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) which met the gravity of these concerns with a specific intervention.
“Suspend Shuttles”
While in principle I do not fundamentally have a difference of opinion as it relates to the request from the GCAA for specific SOPs as they relate to “Shuttle Operations,” I have been on public record as saying that the suspension order for shuttle operations was a “knee jerk” reaction to what I believe is a much more substantial series of issues that need a more comprehensive and detailed review and actions to fix it. The people in the hinterland will be facing undue and unnecessary hardships while waiting for manuals to be written to outline what is generally already being done on a daily basis by pilots as they shuttle food and supplies to remote areas on the mountains. Against this backdrop, kindly permit me to offer some key perspectives on the structural and operational challenges facing the aviation sector, followed by specific and actionable solutions.
This submission benefits from my “40 years” of flying in Guyana and around the Caribbean, as well as from the technical and professional training I acquired from institutions such as the George Washington University and the NTSB in Washington D.C., where I was trained specifically in aviation safety and security as well as Aircraft Accident Investigations internationally, notwithstanding my experience of being the founder and CEO of Roraima Airways over the past 25 years.

The Current Situation
Operational and Safety Standards
The aviation sector in Guyana in my view currently enjoys an extremely high level of safety, when one takes into consideration the thousands of flights that are completed safely every year and the very low percentage of accidents and deaths that occur.
This level of safety is a direct result of the high quality of work being done by the GCAA and the highest standards of compliance by local airlines in keeping with the GCAA Approved Operations Manuals that every airline is mandated to follow ; in addition, all local commercial aircraft is maintained by local maintenance organisations manned by highly trained aircraft engineers that meet the highest international standards , coupled with pilots who are trained to ICACO international standards.
However, our aviation sector is plagued with serious institutional deficiencies, which I believe are contributing significantly to the current state of concern. It is important to highlight that these deficiencies have been plaguing the local aviation sector for decades.
Operational and Safety Challenges
Due to the lack and at times inadequate institutional state systems to support a growing aviation sector, suitably qualified pilots flying perfectly safe planes must often times rely on local knowledge through years of flying experience and extraordinary human skills to complete flights daily into our hinterland. This reality exposes the pilots to the vulnerabilities that exist in the local aviation landscape which is plagued by high mountains, high trees, short runways with poor surface conditions, no air traffic controls support outside 75 miles from the CJIA and lack of adequate and relevant weather information in an environment which is generally hostile and unforgiving.
Structural and Operational Deficiencies faced by pilots daily.
1. Unavailable accurate and relevant weather reports are the frequent norm
2. Lack of air traffic control to separate aircraft beyond the 75-mile radius of the CJIA.
3. Lack of security and management systems on hinterland runways
4. Poor runway surface conditions
5. Lack of Search & Rescue capability
6. Inadequate lessons from past accident investigations
7. Non-existent navigational aids outside the 75-mile radius
Current Operational Status
Flights are usually dispatched with insufficient or inadequate knowledge of the en route weather, the winds aloft and more specifically, the details of weather systems at the destination and forecast weather at the alternate runways.
Note:
Pilots are reporting daily, highly unusual and unexpected weather conditions.
Pilots fly unassisted through the vast expanse of airspace beyond the 75-mile radius of CJIA, depending primarily on his/her own radio contact with other planes for safe separation from other planes to avoid mid-air collisions
Pilots must therefore take on the added responsibilities of multi-tasking as an air traffic controller, and is essentially solely responsible for the safety of him/herself and passengers beyond the 75-mile radius.
Pilots are landing on state-owned runways that have no airport security systems and no operational management control systems, exposing them to the hazards of unexpected runway incursions by vehicles, individuals and animals. And even more specifically, not knowing with certainty whether the runways are cleared of objects and obstacles, which could cause severe damage to the aircraft on take- off or landing.
The stress on the minds of pilots is amplified by the thoughts and knowledge of the clear and present danger they face as a result of the lack of an established national search-and-rescue system — and more particularly, the lack of the ability of the state and regulatory authorities to effectively conduct a successful and timely rescue operation to save lives, given the lack of an adequately equipped helicopter.
There is a total lack of Navigation Aids outside the 75-mile radius around CJIA, leaving the pilots to their own devices to navigate across our vast country. While our pilots are highly and suitably trained, their safety is threatened by the lack of institutional support, and as such, every flight they take into the interior of Guyana can be deemed high-risk.
Specific and Actionable Solutions
1. Mandate the use of high-end MOVING MAP GPS in every plane with a secondary back-up GPS
2. Mandate that local pilots are trained and competent to use the GPS systems.
3. Mandate that pilots are trained, and must understand the safety and accuracy checks of the GPS prior to each flight using the ground-based navigational systems at the CJIA.
4. Establish flight corridors for every route into the hinterland runways using agreed GPS waypoints.
5. Establish procedures using GPS waypoints to assist pilots in maintaining stabilised flight and stabilised approaches to all runways.
6. Mandate every aircraft to be equipped with the ADBS System tracking system.
7. Ensure that the state ADSB system is fast tracked to completion and is always operational and functioning.
8. Mandate that spot trackers be installed on every aircraft operating in Guyana.
9. Mandate that each local airline must have the ability to track and flight-follow their aircraft moment by moment.
10. Mandate that every runway operates with a management system for security and operational readiness
11. Ensure that a reliable and accurate national weather reporting system be put in place, and deployed across the country to assist the pilots in making the right decisions.
12. Ensure that air traffic control services are deployed at specific geographic locations beyond the 75- mile radius of CJIA such as Kaieteur Falls, Port Kaituma and Lethem to militate against mid-air collisions and thereby improve aviation safety in this rapidly expanding sector.
13. Without delay, move to establish the national rescue capability by acquiring an appropriate/suitable helicopter to execute timely and safe extractions from the jungle if the need arises.
14. Organise and schedule national aviation safety seminars bi-annually for all local aviators
14. Revise the bi-annual flight checks for pilots to include a route check operating in compliance with the new GPS procedures.
This submission in my humble view should assist in giving momentum to an aviation sector which is vital to the economic life of Guyana. Aviation services pay a vital role not only in economic activity, but also straddles social and humanitarian efforts. These observations and recommendations are by no means exhaustive, but are meant to stimulate discussions around what I believe are the core issues affecting Guyana’s objective reality as it relates to aviation safety and security.
Regards
Captain Gerry Gouveia
CEO, Roraima Airways
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