Flights suspended with “immediate effect” – Civil Aviation Authority
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) says shuttle flights between interior locations have been suspended with immediate effect until domestic airlines submit policies and procedures on such operations for approval.
“As a result of the accidents and the authority’s preliminary analysis, the authority has now taken the decision to suspend all operations until the documented procedures and policies for shuttle operations are submitted, reviewed and approved by the inspectors of this authority,” GCAA Director General, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Egbert Field said.
No specific time frame was given for the ban to be lifted, but he expected the domestic airlines to submit manuals and other documents to the authority very shortly.
Field said the GCAA would match them against International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) documents and regulations following which inspectors would conduct physical checks at the locations. “When we approve those documents, indirectly we are saying to the operator ‘this is how we expect you to operate’ so that document is like a contract between the operator and the Civil Aviation Authority,” he said.
Police and soldiers to monitor airspace
Police and soldiers in the interior would be asked to be on the lookout for shuttle flights during the period of suspension.
He warned that anyone found violating the temporary ban risked having the airline’s Air Operators Certificate revoked or the pilot suspended. The announcement followed a meeting earlier Wednesday with the private aircraft operators.
He added that the procedures would require the airlines to state, among other things, refueling procedures qualified loaders, certified engineers, and dispatchers. He suggested that the authority has received unofficial information that each 45-gallon fuel drum is in some instances overloaded by five gallons, resulting in overweight of the planes.
Field said the decision was made in the aftermath of the three recent air crashes involving shuttle flights in the mountainous interior.
Two of those incidents resulted in the deaths of Pilots Collin Martin and Imran Khan.
