Transport and Hydraulics Minister, Robeson Benn on Wednesday announced that the preliminary report into the crashed CAL BW 523 aircraft is near completion. At this stage, he disclosed that the primary contributing factor in this accident was that the aircraft made a long landing and touched down with insufficient runway remaining to come to a safe stop.
Detailed analyses will also examine several other aspects of CAL BW 523 flight to identify any other possible contributing factors in order to learn from this accident, and to help identify any measures which may assist in the prevention of future occurrences.
The minister also noted that after the factual information gathering phase, an extensive and detailed analysis of the factual information will be done. Additional research and assistance and possibly outside expertise from organisations such as the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States of America and Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS) may be required.
At the end of the analysis phase, findings and conclusion and safety recommendations will be developed, Benn stated in a release. It is expected, as is the case in most other major accidents, that the analysis and development of conclusions may take at least another year and will follow the established process of rigorous examination of all aspects relating to the occurrence.
A Wall Street Journal report last year had said that pilot error and not mechanical failure were blamed for the crash.
“Crash investigators believe excessive speed and other suspected lapses in landing procedures caused a Caribbean Airlines jet to roll off a Guyana runway in late July, according to people familiar with the details,” the report stated.
“Preliminary findings by investigators, according to industry and government officials, point to pilot error rather than mechanical or other system malfunctions,” the report added.
The Boeing 737- 800 jet skidded off the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) runway on the morning of July 30, 2011 after touching down, resulting in the aircraft breaking into two. As a result of the accident, a section of the airplane’s tail was visible from the tarmac which can be classified as an aviation hazard.
The aircraft, BW 523 which had 151 passengers and six crew members, took a short landing that left the pilot no room to bring the aircraft to a stop, resulting in the huge mechanical bird running off the airstrip.
The plane crashed through the airport’s fence, coming to a halt at the access road to the South Dakota Circuit which is about 30 feet below the runway. The impact of the crash broke the airplane in two in the vicinity of its first class compartment.
Had it not been for the heavy layer of sand surrounding the entire airport, the incident could have had a worse ending.
The plane would evidently have crashed into the signal towers about 500 yards away from the runway, and would have demolished some of the house in its path.
Some of the passengers sustained injuries ranging from broken legs to fractured arms; but, incredibly, no fatalities were recorded.
The aircraft left the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, stopped in- transit at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where passengers from Toronto joined the craft before the flight left for Guyana. In Trinidad, the crew members were changed.
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