M28 Skytruck pilots, engineers honoured

JAGS Aviation, part of the BK Group of Companies, on Friday honoured several pilots and engineers who are now qualified to operate and maintain the M28 Skytruck aircraft.

The twin-engine M28 Skytruck was acquired at a cost of US$4 million in December of 2014 making JAGS Aviation the first in the Caribbean to own such an aircraft. A noted feature of the aircraft is its ability to take off from and land on relatively short and undeveloped airstrips, a veritable game-changer in the domestic industry, given the current state of affairs.

On Friday, the company awarded its pilots, Captains Andrew Shaw, Paul Dalgetty, Raul Seecharran and Errol Pearson with certificates qualifying them to operate the aircraft. Captain Christopher Kirkcaldy of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority was also honoured, having completed the full course qualifying him to perform check rides on the aircraft.
BK International Inc facilitated the ground and flight school training programme with flight training at the JAGS Aviation hangar at the Eugene F Correia Airport at Ogle, East Coast Demerara. The course is a follow-up to the successful completion of 146 hours of the M28 Skytruck Maintenance Course, which commenced on August 15 and concluded on September 18.
Captain Czeslaw Zywocki from Poland, who is associated with the factory which manufactures the aircraft, instructed the course and covered ground school and flight training.
Acting GCAA Director Saheed Suleman said that the Authority was pleased with the investment and the benefits associated.
“The Civil Aviation Authority is here to regulate and support the development of aviation in Guyana. We believe that the investment made is necessary as we look to attract and acquire larger aircraft. We believe that the population of Guyana will benefit because we believe that if you get larger aircraft to transport more people, the cost of travel will go down and it benefits the economy,” he said.
He noted that there were some parts of Guyana which were only accessible by air, thus making the Skytruck the ideal aircraft for the job, since it has the capacity to land on shorter airstrips.
“The hinterland and the coastland, we can only connect certain areas by air, so this investment, in collaboration with enhancing the capacity of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority as the regulator, I believe is the way to go,” Suleman added.
BK Group of Companies Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Tiwarie said that the company chose to invest in the aircraft since they thought it was the best choice for the Guyanese population. He said that they have a contract with the company, which provides for a pilot and engineer from the manufacturer to train staffers.
While delivering the feature address, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon underscored the importance of the aircraft, noting that it would broaden the capacity of the company in the execution of its mandate to connect the coastland with the hinterland.
“This is an important piece of equipment that adds to the Civil Aviation Authority and the airlift capacity of our aviation industry in particular to do with the small airstrips in the country,” he said.
“We are seeing the widening, a broadening of the capacity of our companies to be able to move people and materials from our coastland to the hinterland. That is where the heart of our development is taking place. We will be able to move more people and goods on smaller airstrips, which will bring the cost down and contribute to the good life for all,” Harmon added.
An M28 Skytruck can land on short runways and fly on one engine with capacity cargo.