Guyana Civil Aviation Authority confirms incident with aircraft carrying President and Barbados PM at Eugene Correia Airport

In its statement, the Aviation Authority said the GDF Skyvan was taxing very slowly off the main runway and "while turning off the main runway unto the taxiway, the nose gear rolled across the grass at the edge of the taxiway"

Guyana Civil Aviation Authority confirms incident with aircraft carrying President and Barbados PM at Eugene Correia Airport

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Wednesday night confirmed that a Guyana Defence Force aircraft carrying President Irfaan Ali and Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley was involved in an incident after safely landing at the Eugene F. Correia Airport at Ogle.

In its statement, the Aviation Authority said the GDF Skyvan was taxing very slowly off the main runway and “while turning off the main runway unto the taxiway, the nose gear rolled across the grass at the edge of the taxiway”

The aviation regulatory agency said the aircraft was immediately stopped on the taxiway, adding that “it is important to note that the entire aircraft remained firmly positioned on the taxiway with only the nose gear slightly in the grass”.

“The passengers disembarked the aircraft safely and calmly through the normal exit”, the statement said.

The GCAA also confirmed an earlier report by News Source that there were no damages to the aircraft.

The agency said the aircraft was pushed back and proceeded on its next leg of flight into the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) “totally serviceable”.

The statement by the GCAA followed a statement from the Barbadian Prime Minister’s Office which described reports of the incident as “fake news”, while declaring that at no time was the Prime Minister on a plane that was involved in any “accident”.

The occurrence which took place at the Eugene F. Correia Airport was always described as an incident.

After News Source broke the story of the incident on Tuesday, there were several attempts by the National Security Advisor, Captain Gerry Gouveia on social media to downplay what took place, describing it as a “minor incident”.

Other players in the aviation industry have been quick to point out that the incident should not be downplayed and there is a reporting procedure that should follow such incidents.

In a Facebook post, the former Head of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Zulficar Mohamed rebuffed Captain Gouveia’s position and stated that there is no “minor incident” in aviation and that there is either an incident or an accident.

Captain Gouveia has served as the Honorary Consul of Barbados in Guyana for several years. In his current role as National Security Advisor, he also sits on the National Defence Board.

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