Nation Mourns as bodies of 5 GDF servicemen flown to city

Dec 09, 2023 News

2 survivors welcomed by families; receiving medical attention

By Shervin Belgrave

Kaieteur News – The bodies of the five Guyana Defence Force (GDF) servicemen who were killed in a tragic helicopter accident and the two lone survivors were on Friday afternoon flown to the city.

President Irfaan Ali and Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips joined relatives and members of the Disciplined Services at the Eugene F. Correria International Airport, Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD) as the aircraft arrived with the two survivors, Lieutenant Andio Michael Crawford and Corporal Dwayne Jackson and those who died, Brigadier (Ret’d) Gary Beaton, Colonel Michael Shahoud, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Charles, Lieutenant Colonel Sean Welcome and Staff Sergeant Jason Khan.

Lieutenant Crawford and Corporal Jackson were stranded at the crash site for more than 48 hours with the bodies of their colleagues due to inclement weather.

With tears streaming down their faces, relatives welcomed the men who arrived at about 16:20h and were quickly whisked away to the hospital in waiting ambulances for medical attention.

An emotional President Ali greeted the survivors after which he shared a brief moment with the relatives of the five GDF servicemen who died.

The GDF skyvan carrying the remains of the fallen soldiers arrived at the Ogle Airport at around 17: 17 hrs. The caskets of the men were draped with the Golden Arrowhead and as they were removed from the aircraft, there were no dry eyes at the facility.

An emotional President Ali could not stop tears from flowing as he watched the servicemen being transported to the waiting hearses.

Some relatives were inconsolable as the GDF ranks who served as pallbearers slowly carried their colleagues from the aircraft to the five waiting hearses on their shoulders. The bodies of the servicemen were then taken to the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home.

On Wednesday, a Bell412 helicopter commissioned by the GDF in June this year lifted off from Camp Ayangana at 09:23 hrs with the seven servicemen on board, flown by pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Charles, Co-Pilot Lieutenant Andio Michael Crawford, flight engineer, Corporal Dwayne Jackson and the four passengers, Brigadier (Ret’d) Gary Beaton, Colonel Michael Shahoud, Lieutenant Colonel Shaun Welcome and Staff Sergeant Jason Khan.

The men were reportedly heading to Arau located close to Venezuelan Border in the Cuyuni District, Region Seven to visit soldiers stationed there but stopped halfway the journey to fuel up at Olive Creek, Region Seven.

Shortly after taking off, the helicopter disappeared. GDF said that it was around 11:20hrs that an Emergency Locater Transmitter (ELT) signal was sent off from the chopper. ELT signals can be triggered manually but also on hard impact, or a crash landing.

Realizing that the chopper was in trouble, a search and rescue team was dispatched to the location that the ELT signal went off, reportedly some 30 miles east of Arau.

Bad weather hampered the search and the rescue operation and as a result the team could not locate the crash site until the following day (Thursday) when they reportedly saw signs of life after seeing persons waving.

There was great hope that the men would have returned alive but bad weather kept the nation in suspense because the rescue team was unable to access the crash site.

However, at around 14:00 hrs, it was announced that six GDF Special Forces Soldiers were walking towards the location where persons were reportedly seen waving.

At around 17:00 hrs the nation was informed that only two of the seven men survived the crash.

Attention was then focused on and extracting the injured survivors but again, the weather proved to be a hindrance.

The survivors were forced to spend one more night nursing their wounds in the dense jungle. On Friday, just after noon the men were extracted and their journey to the city began.

Chief of Staff of the GDF, Brigadier Omar Khan told reporters on Friday that an investigation will be conducted into the accident. He noted too that the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) will be actively involved in the investigation.