Almost a year after the Guyana Defence Force helicopter crash that claimed the lives of five servicemen, the Minister of Public Works who holds responsibility for Civil Aviation, Juan Edghill has announced the completion of the draft final report into the deadly helicopter crash.
The GDF’s Bell 412 helicopter, bearing registration 8R-AYA, crashed on December 6, 2023, claiming the lives of five servicemen. Two others survived and provided statements to the investigating teams.
In a statement last evening, Minister Edghill said the Draft Final Report will be sent to the various stakeholders associated for their comments before the report can be finalized. The stakeholders include the Guyana Defence Force, National Transportation Safety Board, Transport Canada, Bell Helicopters and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority.
The stakeholders will have sixty (60) days upon receipt of the Draft Final Report to review and provide their comments, and upon completion of that exercise, the Final Report will be released.
Edghill said he is happy that the matter is approaching a conclusion stage.
A few weeks ago the Minister was quoted in another section of the press as saying that the cockpit voice and data recorder had been damaged in the accident. However, efforts were still being made to garner possible information from it.
But the investigation teams were provided with statements from the two surviving servicemen, Lt. Andio Crawford who was one of the pilots onboard and engineer, Cpl. Dwayne Jackson.
While the Guyana Defence Force provided information on the crash in its aftermath, it has been very protective of the statements from the two surviving servicemen.
Those who lost their lives in the helicopter crash were Commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion, Col. Michael Shahoud, Veteran Pilot, Lt. Col. Michael Charles who was in command of the helicopter, Lt. Col. Sean Welcome, retired Brigadier Gary Beaton along with Sgt. Jason Khan.
It is suspected that pilot error might have contributed to the crash.
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