American investigators are due in Guyana Monday to retrieve the flight recorders of the Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) plane which crash-landed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) early Saturday.
Flights in and out of the airport have resumed while efforts were underway throughout the day to retrieve the baggage belonging to the 151 passengers and six crew members.
Transport Minister Robeson Benn revealed Saturday evening that eight US National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) specialists are expected in Guyana on Sunday at 5PM. Several specialists from manufacturer Boeing are also expected.
The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have already been removed fronm the plane and secured. All records concerning the aircrfat are being " collected and sequestered" he said told reporters at a news briefing at CJIA.
According to Benn, at the time of the accident there was a light shower and visibilty was said to be at 8km which he described as "good."
"We will deal with the facts as we know them and the results as we discern them," he said.
He noted that the Guyana Fire Service was on standby to suppress any fire had there been any. However, there was no fuel leakage. The minister added that the local authorities are receiving assistance from the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica aviation officials.
Benn also rejected suggestions of an inadequate response but said they will conduct an assessment.
"Any accident will be reviewed to see whether we have to improve on our response and in terms of any assets that we may have."
Benn also disagreed with the view that the removal of the tail section from the edge of the runway amounted to tampering with evidence. He said it was done in consultation with experts and the owners to ensure that normal operations could resume at the airport.
"We are doing things which are needed to restore the aerodrome to its safe status, to a status which existed before the incident," he said.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and a team including several of her ministers have arrived in Guyana and have checked the wreckage in the company of Benn, Guyana's foreign minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and CAL officials.
The airline is the national carrier of the twin-island republic.
Steel barricades, manned by armed police and soldiers, have been erected around the aircraft to secure it for the investigators.
Airline Chairman George Nicholas at a news briefing earlier Saturday called it a miracle that the US$38 million aircraft acquired in 2007 did not catch a fire or persons were not killed or more seriously injured.
"It's an absolute miracle that took place today," he told a news briefing at the CJIA. "It's amazing to have an aircraft in that shape with a small number of injuries."
Nicholas and other senior management officials, who flew in from Trinidad, had declined to speak about the weather, how equipped was the airport control tower and other matters that could impact on the investigations in connection with Flight BW523.
The airline officials, however, assured that the pilot has been flying for 25 years and has been doing so to Guyana over that same period. Reports from the hospital say the 52-year-old pilot sustained injuries to his back. He was treated and released.
The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Saturday afternoon released a list of 35 persons who were seen at the institution, three of whom have been admitted as patients.
They are a male, 46, of Shell Road, Kitty who sustained an injury to his right leg and was admitted to the High Dependency Unit; a 69-year-old female of Whim, Corentyne who sustained an injury to her forehead and was admitted to the Female Surgical Ward and; a 20-year-old female of 110 Second Street, Hopetown who suffered a cerebral concussion and trauma to the abdomen. She too was admitted to the Female Surgical Ward. The names of the trio demwaves.com learnt are Noel Elliot, Winifred Joseph and Nakeda Allen.
Four children with ages ranging between seven and 15 years were also among those treated and sent away.
The Diamond Diagnostic Center also treated 17 patients with 11 being referred to the GPHC while six were sent home.
"We will continue to be alert throughout the coming days for passengers who may experience any pain or trauma," Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said in a statement.
Caribbean Airlines spokeswoman, Laura Asborjornsen said a team of Caribbean experts would be arriving in Guyana to assist with "post trauma" counselling for the passengers and crew members.
Scores of persons who arrived on the flight expressed concern about the delay in getting their baggage.
However, airline officials said all personal belongings inside the cabin were being collected and placed in individual plastic bags corresponding with each seat.
There were 96 American passport holders, 44 Guyanese passport holders and 12 Canadian passport holders on the flight, the authorities have revealed, with most of those with foreign documents being Guyana-born.
The incident occurred around 1:25 AM when the jet ran off the runway and down a slope where it snapped in two.
President Bharrat Jagdeo has also visited the scene.
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