CAL, Fly Jamaica planes damaged in incident at Cheddi Jagan International Airport
The damaged Fly Jamaica plane. Its ripped off tail cone is on the ground.
An incoming Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) aircraft Tuesday morning struck a Fly Jamaica plane that was parked at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport but no one was injured.
Director of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Retired Col. Egbert Field confirmed that the right wing of the CAL plane knocked the tail cone of the Fly Jamaica aircraft which was parked.
“We are told that the right wing of the Caribbean Airlines aircraft came into contact with the tail cone of the Fly Jamaica aircraft. As to the extent of the damage, I am still awaiting the report from the investigating team,” he told Demerara Waves Online News. The tail cone is the exhaust for the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU).
Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) officials said the incident occurred at about 7:40 AM (Guyana Time).
Field said neither of the two planes would be allowed to leave Guyana until investigators have completed their work, repairs are done and they are certified again as being airworthy. He could not immediately say whether the incident was a result of one of the planes being positioned badly. “I have asked that the aircraft remain in position so that our team of inspectors can conduct their investigations which would entail taking the measurements etc to ensure, checking to see whether the aircraft were properly parked on the taxi-line position; all these things will come out from the report,” he said.
The Fly Jamaica aircraft’s cone knocked off by Caribbean Airline’s right wing.
The CAL flight, BW 527, was coming in from New York, while the Fly Jamaica plane was being prepared for boarding.
Well-placed sources said that this means “total chaos” for Fly Jamaica because already the other plane has been grounded in New York for two times in less than one week. “They are really down on their faces,” said the source.
Fly Jamaica sources say they are brainstorming all the possibilities to ensure its depart Guyana.
