Nightfall finds search party 100 metres from crash site

Dec 23, 2008 News

– army chopper on standby

The search party organized by Prometheus Resources Guyana. Inc. was yesterday a mere 100 metres from the spot in the Middle Mazaruni where the missing Beech King aircraft is believed to have crashed.

But company official Shazadh Khan said that nightfall prevented the team from reaching the site, and the search will resume early today.

Meanwhile, interim Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Zulficar Mohamed, told Kaieteur News that the Rescue Coordinating Centre was reactivated yesterday.

He added that inclement weather prevented a Guyana Defence Force helicopter from flying into the area, but the chopper remains on standby.

On Friday, Captain Gerry had Gouveia said that a number of pilots examining aerial photographs had identified what appeared to be the tail of the Beech King aircraft protruding from trees in an area in the Middle Mazaruni jungle.

The aircraft was plotting potential mineral deposits at the time of the crash. The mishap is believed to have occurred while the pilot was flying over the escarpment which borders the Middle and the Upper Mazaruni.

Capt Gouveia suggested that the pilot underestimated the steepness of the escarpment, and was forced to climb faster than he actually could, causing the aircraft to stall, and then dive down into the dense vegetation.

He noted that the aircraft might have plummeted vertically, nose first, hence the failure to create any significant clearance in the vegetation, and so make the crash site easily visible.

Although the locally-organised air and ground search was halted, Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc. continued flying, taking aerial pictures which were later posted online and scrutinized by a barrage of pilots.

This was backed up by a team conducting ground searches. Inclement weather forced the team to suspend its search on December 15, but the search was immediately resumed after members received word of the possible location of the plane.

The Beech King Air N87V, chartered from Dynamic Aviation Group Inc by Terraques Ltd, disappeared on November 1 while conducting geographical surveys in the Mazaruni area.

Missing and presumed dead are US pilot James Barker, First Officer Chris Paris, also from the US, and Canadian technician Patrick Murphy.

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