GDF Chief: We did our part, awaiting official report on helicopter crash before releasing internal findings

May 17, 2025 News

Kaieteur News- Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan, MSS, said the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) has completed its internal process into the tragic December 6, 2023 helicopter crash that claimed the lives of five military officers, but will only release its findings after the official report from the Ministry of Public Works is issued.

Brigadier Khan made the statement on Thursday, during a media briefing, when asked for an update on the investigation into the crash that killed pilot-in-command and veteran aviator, Lieutenant Colonel, Michael Charles, Colonel Michael Shahoud, Lieutenant Colonel Sean Welcome, Staff Sergeant Jason Khan, and Brigadier (ret’d) Gary Beaton.

“We were a stakeholder of the investigation by the nature of Guyana’s law. The Ministry of Public Works has that mandate to direct and investigate that incident. We were just a stakeholder.”

GDF Chief: We did our part, awaiting official report on helicopter crash before releasing internal findings

The five men who died in the tragic GDF helicopter crash

Khan confirmed that the GDF had established a Board of Inquiry, which completed its internal investigation and made recommendations. He noted that the GDF has already acted on the recommendations emerging from its internal review.

However, when asked about the nature of those findings, Khan responded, “I will make that available when the official report is issued.”

He outlined that the GDF’s final position remains contingent on the release of the official report. “The board of inquiry is meant to have that report when it’s completed, we did what we had to do, but there is a part in which we have to have the official report to take into consideration to complete our report,” the Chief of Defence Staff said.

Back in January, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill had revealed that the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) was awaiting feedback from stakeholders on the deadly GDF crash report. Stakeholders included the GDF, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Transport Canada, Bell Helicopters, and the GCAA.

Minister Edghill told reporters that the draft report on the helicopter crash was completed in record time. He commended the NTSB of America for its cooperation throughout the investigation, emphasising that the board had given priority to Guyana’s case.

On December 6, 2023 five of seven occupants of the GDF Bell412 helicopter died when the aircraft crashed in the jungle between Arau and Ekereku in Region Seven. Lieutenant Andio Michael Crawford, a pilot on board the aircraft, and Corporal Dwayne Johnson survived the crash.

Shortly after the crash, Edghill had appointed a special investigator to probe the incident and at a news conference late December 2023, he disclosed that the Blackbox of the chopper had been sent to the United States (U.S.).

“I, as Minister of Public Works under the Civil Aviation Act of 2018, (I) have fulfilled my obligations in appointing an accident/incident investigator.” At that, time Edghill also said that he had approved the travel of the investigator to the US to transport and deliver the black box to the NTSB. “The black box was sent so that the readings would be able to inform the investigation [team] as it relates to what happened,” he said.

Minister Edghill had spoken of the strong collaboration between the NTSB and the investigative team, acknowledging the critical importance of the matter, especially given the tragic loss of several of Guyana’s finest soldiers in the crash.

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