A palpable lack of equipment, especially mobile field lights, exposed deficiencies in Guyana's response to the crash of Caribbean Airlines flight 523 at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, Guyana, early Saturday, a point that was not missed by aviation officials and hapless, disoriented passengers scrambling to exit the Boeing 737-800 aircraft once it skidded off the runway. The Caribbean Airlines plane ran off the end of a runway at Guyana's main airport and broke in two. About 35 people had to be treated at a local hospital, including the pilot. For more than an hour after the aircraft with 163 passengers and crew screeched to a halt after breaking into two parts, rescue teams including the civil aviation response system were groping in total darkness, using flashlights and beams from fire engines and other vehicles to illuminate the darkened grass and sandy area where the aircraft finally came to rest on a dirt road.
Policemen with rifles guarding the plane loaded with passengers bags and other valuables expressed dismay at the situation, some of them saying they were ashamed of the poor response and puzzled as to why the airport could not have mobilised field lighting equipment to illuminate the area for so long after the plane ran off the pavement. Transport Minister Robeson Benn said early yesterday that all agencies concerned were reviewing the situation, but "we have not yet decided, agreed on what is needed," acknowledging that a mobile lighting systems would have helped. "We are looking at all those issues like lighting and other stuff, but it is not completed as yet," he told the Guardian. Civil aviation chief Zulfikar Mohamed said the airport was now installing a new instrument landing system (ILS) for pilots to replace an old system that had not functioned for years despite repeated criticism from pilots.
"It is now on test, but if I had a lot of money I would push for the extension of the runway by at least 2,500 feet but we are not sure what exactly caused the accident, whether the runway was too short or what," Mohamed said. Veteran domestic and international pilot Capt Lloyd Marshall yesterday campaigned for the new instrument system to be installed and operating quickly, saying it guided crews up to within 200 feet above the runway allowing pilots to actually see where to land. "The system in place now, the visual omni range (VOR) brings you to about 400 feet above the runway but in really bad weather, you might not be able to see the runway," Marshall said, withholding views on the cause of the crash and leaving it to the NTSB. There is also a range navigational approach system. Marshall, however, said the relatively low volume of air traffic in the area would not support investing in a radar system that was used mostly to separate traffic and track aircraft movement.
Additionally, the airport authority in Guyana does not have an ambulance service. The ambulances that raced to the crash site came from Georgetown, which is 26 miles or an hour's drive away. Meanwhile, passengers like Philadelphia-based Guyanese Geeta Ramsingh and Pastor Michael Nedd both complained about having to grope in the dark and about the inadequate lighting of the scene right on the edge of the aerodrome, but Benn said the entire system was being reviewed. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana have different views on whether the largely intact tail of the aircraft should be dismantled and removed from the edge of the runway to make departures safer. Guyana has since Saturday discussed the need to clear the northern end of the runway, but the T&T Prime Minister said this would be tantamount to evidence tampering.
"Last night, I indicated to our civil aviation staff and Caribbean Airlines that the aircraft should not be touched or moved because it is in fact evidence and we would not want to have any allegations of contamination of that evidence," Persad-Bissessar said. "The tail, I have asked for it to remain, I think it is important. "My gut instinct tells me, and of course I'm a lawyer, that you do not tamper with the scene of an event like this. "I've been advised that the insurers are saying it's okay to move it but we don't have that in writing, for example, so it could impact upon that." Like Jagdeo, she said investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), who were expected last night, had indicated that the tail could be removed, but she wanted to err on the side of caution. For his part, Jagdeo said: "I gather that our person in charge of the investigation has contacted the NTSB and the NTSB has said it is okay to remove the tail. "We don't want anything obstructing our airport because they've had to shorten the runway because of this obstruction," he added. From all indications, the tail will remain in place.