| Even as a Suriname-registered helicopter prepared to depart Guyana yesterday, after disappearing for five hours Thursday evening while on a hinterland mining mission operation, several more questions are still to be answered.Sources yesterday said that investigators over the weekend, who reportedly held the crew overnight Saturday at the Police Headquarters in Eve Leary, were briefly looking into possible links to Wednesday night’s execution-style killing of John Vieira, the Director of Civil Aviation in Suriname.The “missing” chopper at the CJIA on Saturday shortly after it was escorted by the army’s helicopter after being stranded in CuyuniHe was shot at his house in Commewijne, Suriname, about 9 p.m. on Wednesday night, by one of two men riding a motorcycle. However,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, in Guyana, there were no immediate evidence to suggest anything amiss and the men were let go Sunday. The helicopter reportedly came from that neighbouring country and was co-piloted by local army official, Captain Anson Weeks, which is mandatory under local aviation rules, on the trip to Issano, Region Seven. A source close to the investigation said that initial investigations revealed that the chopper had a non-functioning satellite phone and that its VHF radio signal was working “weakly”. Overhead rescue flights on Thursday evening failed to pick up signals from the chopper’s emergency locator transmitter (ELT).Additionally, there were reports yesterday that the crew was visiting a mining concession which is being linked to a government official who was recently under fire for a questionable land deal.Although the chopper was registered overseas, local aviation officials may now be looking to enforce more stringent technical checks on aircrafts registered overseas but granted permission to fly here, a senior official said yesterday.Several overhead flights by the army’s chopper and by former army pilot,Cheap Jerseys From China, Captain Gerry Gouveia,Cheap NHL Jerseys, failed to locate the chopper during a crucial five hours Thursday night when aviation officials had feared the worst.Contacted yesterday, Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Robeson Benn, disclosed that the helicopter, which was chartered from Suriname for a mining mission,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, was set to return to that neighbouring country.Questioned yesterday as to why two of the visitors,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, whose names were given as Canadian, Dominique O’Sullivan and Kevin Tomlinson, an Australian investor,China NFL Jerseys, were held, the Minister would only say that the authorities have to carry out the “normal” due diligence investigations.According to Minister Benn, after the helicopter failed to land around 18:00hrs at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the Control Tower automatically kicked in the Search and Rescue Unit, a procedure for circumstances like these.Several overhead passes were made in the flight path believed to have been used by the chopper, to no avail.It was later discovered that the chopper departed Issano after 17:00hrs but was forced to put down at Quartz Stone, Region Seven, due to bad weather. Two attempts were made to lift off but bad weather forced it to finally put down on a sandbank on the Cuyuni River.According to Minister Benn, the crew reportedly used an all terrain vehicle (ATV) to a nearby mining camp where radio contact was made with the army.Attempts by the helicopter to leave the sand bank on Friday failed because of low fuel.The Minister disclosed that the army’s Skyvan and Bell helicopter were flown in Friday to Bartica but were unable to fly out to the area after the helicopter developed a “hydraulic” problem.However, a mechanic was flown in to have the problem fixed. Using a boat belonging to a miner, the army managed on Saturday to take in food and fuel.The army’s helicopter then escorted the stranded Surinamese chopper to the CJIA on Saturday where it reportedly landed around11:00 hrs.According to the Minister, he is unhappy with news that the key equipment on the stranded chopper was not working or not working properly, highly in contravention of aviation regulations. |
