Caribbean Airlines crash report to be submitted month-end

Almost two years after a Boeing 737-800 aircraft belonging to Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) crash landed at Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), the final report on the crash is expected to be submitted by month-end.
According to Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director Zulfikar Mohammed at a recent press conference, there were some delays with respect to the investigations conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as it was engaged in other investigations.
He praised the investigative team for the timely completion of the report, noting that an investigation into a plane crash in Jamaica which occurred one year before the one in Guyana is still to be completed.
He said that the investigations into the July 30, 2011 crash was completed in a short time compared to those for other major crashes.
The aircraft, on the day of the accident overshot the runway, and stopped short of a ravine with its nose cone segment breaking off. The crash was deemed “a miracle landing” since all 163 people aboard, including the six crew members, survived.
Weeks after the accident, the airline said the co-pilot had resigned and the captain of the aircraft was now employed in another department of the airline, pending the release of the official report.
The injured persons were compensated after consultation with their insurance companies. There were also four lawsuits filed in the U. S. against CAL in connection with the incident.
Officials had stated that the sums involved were in the vicinity of several thousands of U.S. dollars.
Preliminary findings by investigators on the crash suggested that there might have been an error on the part of the pilot, rather than mechanical or other system malfunction. It was later reported that the cockpit crew of Flight 523 reported no problems with the twin-engine Boeing aircraft to air traffic controllers on approach.
It is believed that the plane landed too fast and too far down the airstrip.
Caribbean Airlines Flight 523 overran runway six at the CJIA, and several of the passengers aboard were injured.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-8BK, had flown from the John F Kennedy Airport, New York to Georgetown, with a stopover at the Piarco International Airport, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
After touching down on a rainy day, the plane crashed through the perimeter fence. The aircraft went over a road before stopping 100 metres away from the airstrip and breaking into two.