An Eastern Airlines aircraft carrying over 200 passengers skidded off the runaway shortly after landing at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Wednesday afternoon.
One set of the aircraft’s front wheels skidded off the runway
The incident occurred at some time around 14:30h at the south-western end of the runway.
According to CJIA Public Relations Officer Shunza Samuel, while the Boeing 767 aircraft landed safely, the incident occurred as it was taxiing.
Samuels told Guyana Times that the aeroplane was negotiating a turn to head to the airport apron to allow passengers to deplane when one set of the front wheels slid off the runway. Because of the persistent rainfall over the past few days, the wheels got stuck in the damp mud.
At the time, there were some 201 passengers onboard the flight that landed from New York. The airline was conducting a repatriation flight to bring home Guyanese.
The CJIA PRO noted that there were no injuries to any of the passengers or crew members. The aircraft also did not suffer any damages.
Samuels noted in a subsequent missive that “The quick response by airport authorities has resulted in the situation being remedied.”
Nevertheless, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has launched an investigation into the ‘minor’ incident. Only last August, an American Airlines aircraft suffered a blowout from a raised runway light at the CJIA. That incident occurred just after midnight as American Airlines flight AA1512 was taxiing down the runway for takeoff to Miami.
None of the 201 passengers or crew members of the Eastern Airline flight was injured in Wednesday’s ‘minor’ incident
Guyana Times was told that the aircraft overran the temporary runway lighting, which damaged the wheels of the Airbus A319 plane. The temporary lighting system was installed to facilitate ongoing extension works at the CJIA runway.
Earlier that month, there was a failure in the runway lighting system, and a senior airport official had explained to this newspaper that the runway lights’ cables are usually run underground and the lights are placed into the ground, but because of the ongoing extension works, temporary cables are being used. (G8)
