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Sparendaam plane crash…Residents awaiting compensation, additional support
– Pleased with response from Human Services Ministry
Florence Tyndall is optimistic that her Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara house will be rebuilt, even if it takes years. She is confident that the insurance company of the ill-fated American registered aircraft that crashed into her house will compensate her.
There is the belief that the twin-engine Piper Aztec with registration N27-FT may not be insured since the insurance company has not come forward after the plane crashed on April 13, last, killing the owner and pilot, Pierre Angiel and passenger Canadian Scientist Nick Dmitriev.
A distraught Michelle Belle and one of her children stand by the doorway of her destroyed house.
According to a source, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA)’s Air Transport Management Department did not verify if the aircraft was insured. And, the regulatory body will be writing to the Federal Aviation Administration to assist in investigating the status of the aircraft.
Despite this allegation, the 69-year-old believes that the aircraft is insured. She has confidence that the aircraft-owner would have had needed insurance to reach this far with the aircraft. Tyndall added that when Dmitriev’s widow and children visited the crash site she was informed that Angiel had divorced his first wife and has a son. His second wife is sickly and could not come to Guyana.
Following the crash which flattened her house, Tyndall was staying with a neighbour to keep ‘a close eye’ on the activities that were ongoing in her yard. A technical team from the GCAA and labourers from Ogle Airport and Air Services Limited were clearing the rubbles to retrieve the remains of the aircraft.
When this publication visited the elderly woman yesterday she had relocated about two streets away to her son’s residence. However, the three children, who were in her care, have moved in with their aunt in Georgetown.
According to Tyndall, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security headed by Minister Jennifer Webster, has been interested in the children’s welfare. She recalled that on Tuesday a team from the Ministry visited her temporary abode to find out about the children.
She said that the Ministry and church have been helpful in providing support since the crash. Tyndall related, “Something will be done even if takes year, God will take care of it…And if nothing is not done I don’t mind.”
Tyndall was not the only Sparendaam resident to suffer directly from the fatal crash. A section of her immediate neighbour, Michelle Belle’s Lot 127 Sparendaam Housing Scheme wooden structure was badly burnt during the chaos.
According to Belle, when the plane crash-landed between the two buildings her house caught fire. And, it was after the plane exploded that Tyndall’s house went up in flames.
The mother of nine recalled that the aircraft hit a coconut tree splitting it in two, pitching one section into Tyndall’s yard. One of the plane wings grazed on her roof tearing piece of zinc before reaching the ground.
The fire destroyed two bedrooms, kitchen and a chicken pen she was building to rear poultry as a small business venture. Attempts by residents to help save her house, though successful, resulted in her appliances, including television and microwave being destroyed.
Currently, Belle, six of her children and a grandchild are living in the house despite the deplorable environs.
The Guyana Relief Council and Ministry of Human Service among other organizations provided support to Belle and her family. The woman said that she is thankful especially for the support Government has given her. She is waiting patiently to see what additional support she will receive.
Dr. Roger Luncheon after one of his post-Cabinet press briefings had mentioned that Transport Minister Robeson Benn had informed Cabinet of the extent of damage to Belle’s house.
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