GCAA launches investigation into most recent plane crash-Director General to meet with operators-Safety Management System operational

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has launched an investigation into the fatal aircraft accident involving Air Services Limited Cessna 206 aircraft with registration number 8R-GFM which crashed on August 27, 2017. The pilot, Captain Imran Khan, who was the lone occupant of the aircraft, was on his second shuttle mission for the day at the time of the accident.

Preliminary report indicated that the plane was scheduled to land at Mahdia at approximately 08:47hrs but failed to do so. A distress signal was received at approximately 09:08hrs which initiated a search operation by all domestic operators within the vicinity of the last known location of the aircraft.

The crash site was positively identified at 12:56hrs and a team from the Guyana Defence Force was deployed to the area to recover the pilot. Due to the conditions of the terrain, the rescue team had to trek for approximately 3 hours cutting through thick vegetation to reach the crash site from the landing zone. The rescue team recovered the body of Captain Khan late yesterday afternoon.

The investigation by the Accident and Incident Investigation Group (AIG) will examine all possible areas that could have contributed to the occurrence of this latest accident including weather condition, pilot’s flight and duty hours, and the type of operations the pilot was conducting.

The Director General of the GCAA, Lt. Col. (ret’d) Egbert Field, said that surveillance and inspection of air operators, aircraft and other aspects of aviation operations will continue with more frequency. A meeting will be held with the all domestic operators on Wednesday August 30, 2017 to discuss safety issues and other matters in light of this latest accident.

The GCAA has commenced the State Safety Programme (SSP) as mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and is presently at the implementation stage. The elements of the SSP was introduced to service providers at a workshop held in July 2017 as a precursor for the Safety Management System (SMS) which all operators are expected to implement.

The GCAA continues to be proactive, and is diligently working with airline operators to ensure that their SMS programmes develop and function effectively.  The successful implementation of SSP and SMS will help to identify the hazards within the aviation sector and manage risks to the safety of passengers, operators and the aircraft.

The GCAA remains committed towards creating a safe, secure and modern civil aviation sector, and to reduce the current number of aircraft accidents.