As an international probe begins into the runway incursion at the JFK airport in New York, director general of T&T's Civil Aviation Authority, Ramesh Lutchmedial is fearful that the investigation could be prejudiced.
In an interview, Lutchmedial said too many people were speculating about the incursion involving Caribbean Airlines 526 which nearly crashed into Jetblue 1295, headed for Austin, Texas, around 10:30 pm on Saturday.
"I want people to stop speculating about the incursion and allow the investigation to take its course. I never knew that we suddenly have so many aviation experts in Trinidad," Lutchmedial lamented. He added, "In these matters we must wait for the facts and refrain from speculating because it tends to prejudice the investigations."
Lutchmedial said the audio of the JFK Tower Frequency Recording has been obtained and the investigation may take about three weeks to be completed.
"It will be transcribed and analyzed to determine exactly what has taken place," he added. Asked whether CAL could face penalties if it was found that an infraction has been committed, Lutchmedial said it will be unprofessional for him to comment on this while the investigation is ongoing.
He also denied that the pilots were suspended, saying, "they have both been taken off active flying duties until the investigation is complete."
Lutchmedial also said that runway incursions were not uncommon. Yesterday, a team from the TTCAA led by Inspector Capt George Cants Roach, who has 40 years experience as a commercial pilot and is a veteran accident investigator, went to the JFK airport to investigate the incursion. Lutchmedial said representatives of Caribbean Airlines, as well as flight operations specialists, trained in aircraft accident investigations, were present at the meeting in New York. This is the first time that Caribbean Airlines has been involved in a runway incursion. He also said the pilots will not be giving any interviews with the media while the investigations are continuing.
Meanwhile, an official of the International Air Transport Association confirmed that IATA was not part of the investigating team. Assistant Manager of Corporate Communications Kalliopi Lazari said "IATA is the trade association for the world's airlines and supports many areas of aviation activity and helps formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues." However she could not answer any questions on the ongoing investigation saying they were "outside the scope of IATA's activities as IATA is neither an investigatory body nor a safety regulator."
The US Federal Aviation Administration is also involved in the investigation.