POLICE as well as personnel from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of 22-year-old Raquel Joseph who lost her life after being struck by a spinning propeller of a single-engine Cessna 172 aircraft. On Wednesday afternoon, Joseph had her face disfigured when she reportedly walked right into the spinning propeller of the aircraft minutes after it had landed at Ekereku Airstrip, Cuyuni, Mazaruni.

 The dead woman’s address has been given as Old Road Timehri and the incident occurred around 17:40hrs on Wednesday.

Yesterday, the disfigured body of the woman was flown out of the remote area to the Ogle International Airport in the company of a policeman and the pilot who was in control of the aircraft at the time.

Speaking with this publication at the airport, yesterday, just after landing with the body of the woman, Captain Orlando Charles said that the now dead woman landed at the airstrip two hours before his flight had arrived. According to him, she travelled to the location from Olive Creek.

The captain who spoke with this publication while sitting in his vehicle at Ogle, yesterday, said that he first encountered the woman and her boyfriend one week ago. The man said that the two were at Olive Creek and had been looking to secure a flight from that area to Ekereku.
According to Captain Charles, the woman was able to secure a flight out of Olive Creek and travelled to Ekereku but her bag was left behind. He said that when his aircraft landed at Olive Creek he was asked to drop the woman’s five-pound bag to Ekereku, considering that her clothing and other personal effects were in the bag.
The pilot said that as he landed at Ekereku, the 22-year-old woman walked up to the plane from behind and enquired from the baggage handler if he had a bag for her, and he responded in the positive and gave it to her.
After receiving the bag, Charles related, the woman instead of removing from close to the aircraft via the route she had come decided to walk straight to the front of the aircraft which had its propeller still spinning.
The woman then came into contact with the propeller which killed her instantly. According to Charles there were some efforts on his part to prevent the situation from happening.
He explained that as the woman began walking to the front of the aircraft, he observed her and immediately switched off the engine. However, she came into contact with the propeller before it had fully stopped. He posited that had he not taken off the engine of the aircraft the woman may have been minced beyond recognition.
The captain who was still visibly shaken almost 24 hours after the incident told Guyana Chronicle that he has been flying for the past 13 years and never experienced or had cause to deal with the death of a passenger or anyone else while he was in the pilot seat.
The man said that the incident will forever haunt him as he did experience a few mechanical problems but a death is unprecedented.

SHARING LUNCH
On Wednesday, a few hours before the woman’s death, the captain said he had shared his lunch with her and her boyfriend while they were at Olive Creek.
He described the experience as heartbreaking while expressing his condolences to the woman’s relatives and friends.
Captain Charles is the director and founder of Flight of Hope. Flight of Hope is an organisation which conducts outreaches in the hinterland areas. He said that the organisation runs hinterland programmes to schools and to date they have been able to serve approximately forty schools over a four-year period.
Captain Charles told the Chronicle there was no extensive damage to the propeller but if, after an assessment, there is need for an overhaul of the engine and propeller the cost would be close to $8 – $10 million.
Yesterday morning, flight officials and investigators of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority travelled to the area where they began conducting investigations into the matter.