Transport Minister Robeson Benn told the National Assembly on August 4th that the runway of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) was declared to be in excellent condition by the International Civil Aviation Organisation after an audit done in January last.
Benn made the comment in a statement to the House on the Caribbean Airlines’ plane crash on July 30. He said that the architectural design of the runway also provides for the rapid shedding of water. Accordingly, accumulation of water on the runway at the time the Caribbean Airlines’ (CAL) Flight 523 landed last Saturday would have been zero.
“Given the amount of rainfall (1.8mm) reported 30 minutes before the accident, and the runway design, there was no possibility of standing water (being) on the runway,” the minister said. He said the Hydrometeorological Station located in close proximity to the airport had reported that the surface of the runway was not in any way affected by lodged water.
“Reports from the Hydrometeorological Office at Timehri, which is equipped with a modern Doppler Radar System, indicate that there was a light drizzle at the time of the accident, calm winds, and no fog. Visibility was at eight kilometres, with a cloud ceiling of 9,000 feet,” said Benn.
Benn stressed that the lighting along the runway and the precision approach path indicators necessary for the aircraft to land were all functioning.
“It is worthy to note that these are the same instruments that have been used for at least the last eight years at the CJIA, and over that time Caribbean Airlines’ aircraft have executed over 10,000 landings, handling a total of 2.1 million passengers without accident,” he said.
The minister reiterated that the emergency response mechanisms employed by airport officials on the day in question were intact, “I have seen firsthand video footage from airport security which records the Airport Fire Service responding within three minutes of receiving the emergency call from the control tower. First responders also included the duty officer, airside ramp attendants and airport security trained in emergency response.”
The U.S. National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) is currently leading an investigation into the accident, which according to the minister is near completion. He told the National Assembly that investigations are being conducted by the local Civil Aviation Authority, the NTSB, the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority, the Boeing Aircraft Company, CAL, and Suriname Aviation Authority. The investigation will assess the airworthiness of the aircraft at the time of the incident; operations in place to assist pilot and crew; the aircraft performance, to determine whether the aircraft was operating within the correct parameters; weather conditions at time of accident, and to assess the survival factors.
Minister Benn reported that four of the five aspects of the investigation have been completed.
The team is currently compiling a report.
On Saturday, July 30, the Caribbean Airlines Flight BW523, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, overshot the runway at the CJIA and ended up in the fields outside of the airport broken into two pieces, leaving 160 persons injured. There were no fatalities.
