FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert has said a fuel problem was the reason why a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) ATR 72-600 aircraft had to make an emergency landing at Piarco International Airport on January 27.
\nHe made this comment in response to a question from Opposition Senator Wade Mark in the Senate on Tuesday January 28.
\nBefore giving his response, Imbert reminded senators the Finance Ministry is the reporting ministry for CAL.
\nDuring the tenure of the former UNC-led People’s Partnership coalition government, May 2010-September 2015, CAL was reassigned from the Works and Transport Ministry to the Finance Ministry.
\nReferring to information on his cell phone, Imbert said CAL informed him about this incident which happened at 10 pm on Monday.
\nWhile the CAL report on the incident was very technical, he continued, it appears there was a problem with fuel for one of the engines.
\n“One of the engines basically ran out of fuel which caused the captain to make the mandatory announcement, in accordance with civil aviation regulations, to the passengers, that they should get into the position that is recommended for an emergency landing.”
\nImbert told senators, “The captain managed to pilot the aircraft safely and landed well.”
\nHe added there were no injuries to passengers or crew and the plane has been withdrawn from service. Imbert repeated, “It appears that the problem arose from inaccurate measurements of the amount of fuel in the left tank of the aircraft.
\nMark asked if an investigation was launched into this matter.
\nImbert said, “No problem at all. I did myself ask that question. It’s a natural question to ask.”
\nHe identified the plane’s pilot and two technicians as the people who would know how much “fuel was in the particular tank that fed the particular engine that had the problem.” Imbert said, “These three individuals are not in active service at this point in time.”
\nHe added, “It is normal when you are doing an investigation. They (CAL) will follow their normal procedures.”
\nImbert said he did not know the names of the three people involved and this was not a matter for him to become involved in.
\n“CAL will follow all the established procedures, in accordance with civil aviation rules and regulations, and their own internal industrial relations procedures to make sure that all persons involved get a fair hearing and that the root cause of the problem is determined.”
\nImbert said it is unnecessary to withdraw all CAL ATR 72-600’s from service because of this incident.
\nIn response to another comment from Mark, Imbert said he was unaware of another incident which took place last August with another CAL plane.
\n“I am told that preliminary information is there is nothing wrong with the aircraft itself. It’s simply the measurement of the amount of fuel that was in the tank. There is nothing wrong with the plane.”
\nImbert thanked Mark for the information he provided.
\n“Now that you have told me there was an incident with an aircraft last year, I will certainly ask for details with respect to that matter.’
\nLast August, a CAL plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Piarco when a warning light came on in the cockpit.
\nA video which was widely circulated on social media on Tuesday \u2013 but which has not been verified as being the CAL aircraft which made the emergency landing \u2013 shows what appears to be the inside of a commercial aircraft with people shouting, “brace, brace…” amidst the sound of children crying.
\nThe incident has made news across the region with one report in the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper saying the flight had to make an emergency landing after “suffering engine failure.”
\nIn a statement, CAL said that BW Flight 1451, which left the Crown Point Airport at Tobago at 9.31 pm, had \u201cdeclared an emergency landing\u201d and arrived safely at the Piarco International Airport about 34 minutes later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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