Probe ongoing into deadly GDF Helicopter crash

Investigators from the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority are continuing their investigations into Guyana Defence Force helicopter crash that claimed the lives of five GDF servicemen on the 6th December, as it was being flown to Arau in Region Seven.

The GCAA is leading the investigations, and its investigators have been interviewing GDF personnel including the two survivors of the crash.

Officials at the Civil Aviation Authority are tightlipped about their probe and will only say that the investigations are ongoing.

News Source understands that the GCAA has been in possession of the cockpit voice data recorder, which captured the last words of those in the Bell helicopter moments before it went down.

The helicopter was being flown by Lt. Colonel Mike Charles with Lieutenant Andio Crawford as his co-pilot. Charles lost his life in the crash, while Crawford was one of two survivors.

News Source has learnt that the investigators are looking into the actions of the flight team in the lead up to the crash and whether procedures and regulations for flying in bad weather conditions were properly followed. There is concern that the helicopter was being flown extremely low to escape the heavy clouds that were in the area at the time.

It is suspected that helicopter might have come into contact with trees and the side of a mountain before the pilots lost control and it spiraled out of control, eventually crashing through the trees and hitting the ground, bursting into flames on its way down.

Three of the five servicemen who died in the crash were burnt beyond recognition. The other two sustained multiple injuries.

Investigators are depending heavily on the account of the two survivors as they probe the incident.

In addition to the investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority, the Guyana Defence Force is conducting its own investigations at the level of a Board of Inquiry. There are some retired military officers who believe that an independent investigation or a Commission of Inquiry should also be carried out into the crash of the Bell helicopter, which was purchased and put into operation just months before.

One former senior officer told News Source that an independent investigation should be carried out to ensure all of the details come out in the probe and are made public, laying blame for the crash wherever it might fall.

There is no plan at this stage for any independent inquiry.

The helicopter crash claimed the lives of retired Brigadier Gary Beaton, Colonel Michael Shahoud, Lt. Colonel Sean Welcome, Lt. Colonel Michael Charles and Staff Sergeant Jason Khan, who was posthumously promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2.