Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
Guyana mulls joining independent group that probes aviation accidents
Guyana is currently hosting the second meeting of the Caribbean Accident and Incident Investigation Organisation (CARAIO) which started yesterday and ends Friday.
Director General Lt. Col. (R’td), Egbert Field, yesterday flanked by other participants in the meeting.
The event, being held at the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority’s boardroom, Kingston, will see experts in the field of Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation deliberating on a range of issues.
These include the legal framework, regulations, data processing and storage of accident reports, training and other technical issues related to conducting a comprehensive and impartial aircraft and other aviation-related accident investigations.
According to GCAA yesterday, the meeting will also seek to spread the wings of CARAIO to provide those states within South, Central and Latin America, the opportunity to join the group.
An investigation can be conducted with the help of investigators from the newly established CARAIO if the assistance of the group is sought by a member state.
Director General, Lt. Col. (Retd) Egbert Field, in welcoming the participants, noted the importance of having an independent body conduct accidents and investigations within the aviation sector.
The Director General said that it is difficult for a state to conduct an aircraft accident and incident investigation without the collaboration of other states and the formation of this group makes the task much easier to undertake. He foresees wider collaboration with other states within the region, including those in South, Central and Latin America.
With the guidance of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS), the CARAIO Accident and Incident Investigation Group (AIG) will be established under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards for the region.
In Guyana’s case, helicopter accident and incident investigation is an area of interest considering the emerging oil and gas industry, the tourism sector and the diversifying agriculture sector.
The importance of the CARAIO was underscored in the first meeting and reaffirmed in this second meeting due to numerous deficiencies regarding AIG issues.
The establishment of this CARAIO group is supported by CASSOS, with assistance from ICAO, North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACC) Regional Office and Central American Corporation for Air Navigation Services (COCESNA).
This meeting, GCAA said, will continue the efforts to ratify a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to establish a separate Accident and Investigation Group under the auspices of the (CASSOS).
CASSOS is an institution within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which was created by members of the Association of Civil Aviation Authorities of the Caribbean (ACAAC). Guyana is a member state of CASSOS.
The other member states are Barbados, Haiti, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands.
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