Cessna 206H Stationair 2. Photo by Adrian Pingstone
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority has been ordered to increase the amount of regular random aircraft and aircrew checks it performs, the Guyanese Ministry of the Presidency said. This follows three aircraft crashes, which resulted in two deaths, over a span of less than two months, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said, according to the ministry.
“We have asked the director of civil aviation for there to be more frequent levels of inspection of these aircrafts, of the pilots and the facilities they use to ensure that there is a higher level of safety in these operations,” Harmon said. “We, as a small country, cannot continue to lose young men in the prime of their lives to accidents. We are calling on the director to increase [the] level of investigation and oversight over all of the operators to ensure that the serviceability of these aircrafts are checked, that the time and hours of the pilots, which they fly must also be checked. And this must not just be a one-off check, but a regular check.”
Harmon said the government has been spending large amounts of money to develop airstrips in an effort to increase safety for pilots and passengers.
This announcement came shortly after an Air Services Ltd. Cessna 206 crashed in Potaro-Siparuni, the ministry sad. The pilot, who was the only person on board, died. The ministry said that a chief pilot at Roraima Airways died after his aircraft crashed on landing July 25. In the same area, a captain from Wings Aviation Ltd. crashed a single-engine Cessna and was left with injuries Aug. 8, the ministry said.