Skylane aircraft crashes at Mazaruni; pilot sustains minor injuries

A Cessna 182P Skylane aircraft crashed on Sunday morning during takeoff from the Aricheng Airstrip in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) leaving the pilot who was the sole occupant at the time with minor injuries. According to reports, the incident occurred at around 07:50h in the Mazaruni region. The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has since launched an investigation into the non-fatal aircraft accident. “Preliminary reports indicate that there are no fatalities. The GCAA is working closely with relevant stakeholders to determine the cause of the accident,” the authority said in a statement on Sunday. However, the Guyana Times understands that the CESSNA 182P aircraft, with registration number N9347G, is owned by a well-known Guyanese pilot; however, he was not the one flying the plane at the time of the crash.

Sunday’s plane accident comes nearly two months after a pilot, Captain Ryder Castillo, was killed in a crash on Friday, April 10, in Guyana’s rugged mountainous and jungle terrain along the Mahdia-Imbaimadai route. The Cessna 208 (registration 8R-YAC), operated by Air Services Limited (ASL), had departed Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), at 08:10h on a cargo shuttle flight bound for Imbaimadai, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), with an expected arrival time of 08:40h. However, it failed to report its arrival, prompting a flight progress check at 08:44h. At that time, weather conditions in the area were reportedly poor, with heavy rainfall and reduced visibility. The GCAA swiftly responded to the incident, initiating protocols for a missing aircraft involving a Cessna 208 operating along the Mahdia-Imbaimadai route. Captain Castillo, a Nicaraguan national, was the sole occupant in the aircraft at that time. He had been employed with ASL for about a decade, with approximately 20 years of flying experience. Due to the rugged mountainous and jungle terrain, it took rescuers several days to finally reach the crash site on Monday, April 13, and then another 24 hours to extract the body. The GCAA, as well as other officials, had cited that recovery efforts were severely hampered by the hazardous terrain, especially since no helicopter could safely operate at the site. Nevertheless, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Special Forces removed the pilot’s body from the rugged, thickly forested terrain the following day, flying first to Imbaimadai and then to Georgetown late Tuesday, April 14. Based on reports, by the time rescuers arrived at the site, Castillo’s body was already badly decomposed. Meanwhile, in addition to the remains, investigators also recovered documents and personal effects from the crash site to assist in determining the circumstances surrounding the crash.