Failed runway lights force more cancellations

Aug 13, 2008 News

The Cheddi Jagan International Airport runway was again in darkness last evening as the Ministry of Public Works awaits the arrival of portable lights from either Barbados or Trinidad.
Kaieteur News was told that efforts are being made to obtain the lights from Barbados or Trinidad.
This is, however, dependant on the availability of the lights in these countries.
Yesterday, a ‘NOTAM’ (Notice to Air Men) was issued advising that there are no runway lights and as such all flights arriving during the night at the lone international airport in Guyana will have to be cancelled.
Attempts were made yesterday to borrow some portable lights from Suriname but they were to no avail.
This newspaper was told that portable lights are available at Ogle Airport but these reportedly do not meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.
At 16:00 hrs yesterday the last flight departed from the airport.
Two BWIA flights scheduled to arrive last evening were cancelled.
All flights arriving and departing Monday evening were cancelled after the runway lights shut down.
Kaieteur News was told that at about 18:45 hrs the lights on the runway, which were constantly cutting off most of the evening, completely shut down.
A source told Kaieteur News that two weeks ago it was reported that the lights on the runway were faulty.
Last Wednesday, the same problem had occurred at the airport.
Meanwhile, over the past week there have been two cases of vandalism at the only air navigation equipment (Very High Frequency Omni Range) site at Timehri.
This newspaper was told that there is no security at the site and as such persons have been vandalizing it.
Losses amounting to $1.3M have been reported.
Among the things lost were fuel, batteries and battery charger for the VOR.
On July 29 last, lightning knocked out the electricity supply to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) tower and the entire airport.
However, the situation worsened after the back up generator went down when a flight was about to land at the airport.
Efforts by technicians and controllers stationed there averted disaster when an approaching Sky Services aircraft almost ran off the runway.
Reports reaching Kaieteur News stated that at about 14:15 hrs on July 29 last there was a thunderstorm in the area, which knocked out the electricity.
On routine the GCAA generator kicked in but at about 16:15 hrs the generator shut down.

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