There is no question that the Caribbean Airlines incident at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Guyana was a stroke of the kind of good fortune that is quite rare in the airline industry. Despite the startling destruction wrought by the incident, it remains a matter of divine grace that not one of the 163 passengers was received life-threatening injuries in what CAL is describing as a "runway excursion." The circumstances of the landing mishap require analysis, full disclosure and if warranted, appropriate remedial action. The facts that are known about the landing so far are these.
At half-past one in the morning on Saturday, BW523, a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight originating in New York and destined for Guyana with a stop in Trinidad and Tobago, overshot the 2,200 metre runway at CJIA in Timehri, smashed through the perimeter fence surrounding the airfield and broke in two across its fuselage on the rough ground outside the airport. The aircraft came to a halt not far from a 200-foot ravine that would have caused much greater damage if the plane had rolled a few metres further. Most of the injuries sustained by passengers, of which five were reported to be serious, came during the emergency evacuation of the plane in the darkness. There has been some speculation about what actually happened that night in Guyana as passengers relate what happened after the aircraft touched down and the pilot won a cheer and applause for what seemed, briefly, to be a safe and routine landing.
In a story related to Saturday's Guyana incident, yesterday's Wall Street Journal noted that runway issues may comprise up to 45 percent of the overall safety risks facing the global airline industry. The incident will be thoroughly investigated by Guyana's Civil Aviation Authority, the US National Transport Safety Board and the local civil aviation authorities. CAL has deferred any specific comment until the delivery of the report that will come from these aviation authorities. Undoubtedly, Guyana's Civil Aviation Authority will also be reviewing any potential safety issues related to its runway, but it will also need to revamp its incident response systems in light of the mercifully non-fatal failures that complicated the evacuation of the aircraft. Passengers related stories of the problems they faced getting out of the plane in the darkness and the slow response of rescue crews in arriving at the plane's location after it broke apart. One passenger told a remarkable story of being charged $20 for a lift to the airport terminal by a passing taxi driver.
One of the bright spots in this entire story has been the vigorous and professional response of Caribbean Airlines in responding to the incident, providing support to the affected passengers and in offering any information it had available and was able to provide. The airline's top officials were on the spot in Guyana within hours of the incident and before that they had hosted a press conference at Piarco Airport and issued a news release. Although the circumstances must have been very trying, the airline went out of its way to ensure that the public was informed throughout Saturday, with additional news releases and press conferences. In a show of solidarity and empathy that was outstanding for a state-owned company in a time of near crisis, the airline's chairman and many of its top managers flew to Guyana to provide support for the injured and to address the issues that arose.
The final report of the airline authorities responsible for investigating Saturday's runway excursion will no doubt offer a more complete and informative analysis of the circumstances that led to the destruction of BW523 and the lessons that come out of that review should lead to real world safety improvements in the regional airline industry post-Timehri. Issues with landing have become such a stand-out issue in airline safety that they have become a specific focus of safety groups and international transport regulators. Given the pro-active way in which the airline has responded thus far, the flying public should be comforted in the knowledge that CAL will do what is necessary in the future to ensure that its unblemished safety record remains intact.