Govt. maintains GDF crash report will not be released

May 21, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar yesterday reaffirmed that government will not release the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) helicopter noting that it was a military operation and therefore bound in privacy.

Five servicemen died in the crash and two survived.

Indar was speaking at the media launch of the 3rd ICAO/EASA Global Regional Safety and Oversight Organization (RSOO) and Regional Accident and Incident Investigation Organization Forum (RAIO) for Aviation Safety 2026, held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

Indar recalled that he has already informed the National Assembly that it was a military operation and that respect should be paid to ensure that it stays that way and not be put up for public consumption.

However, he noted that a draft report was sent to about six or seven agencies, “a host of people,” for comments and that it was changed significantly afterwards. “The final report, as I said, because of the Chicago Convention (Convention on International Civil Aviation), we are not releasing that report. I said it in the parliament and I am saying it again. If you can find a single government, single military operation that releases reports [of that nature], show it to me. People keep pushing to find something that is not there,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, according to the leaked report, the two pilots onboard the GDF Bell 412 helicopter in December 2023, lacked the necessary certifying instruments to operate the aircraft through low visibility.

On December 8, 2023 five of seven occupants of the helicopter died when the aircraft crashed in the jungle between Arau and Ekereku in Region Seven. Those who died are: the pilot-in-command, veteran aviator Lieutenant Colonel Michael Charles, Colonel Michael Shahoud, Lieutenant Colonel Sean Welcome, Staff Sergeant Jason Khan and Brigadier (ret’d) Gary Beaton. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Andio Michael Crawford, a pilot on board the aircraft, and Corporal Dwayne Johnson survived the crash.

The report said that pilot Lieutenant Colonel Charles and co-pilot Lieutenant Crawford, were trained and type rated on the helicopter and had valid pilot and medical licences and were in good health. However, it noted that “neither pilot possessed a valid instrument rating for the Bell 412 Epi helicopter or any other type of helicopter or aircraft and may not have been adequately prepared for an Inadvertent Instrument Meteorological Conditions.”

“The perusal of the captain’s records indicated that he did not hold an Instrument Rating for over 25 years (last instrument rating expired in 1998). The helicopter was being utilised in the Private Category for military and State purposes,” the report continued.

The findings also pointed to a steep cockpit gradient due to the wide disparity in experience and military rank between the captain and co-pilot. It stressed that there was a need for proper cockpit and crew resource management and adequate instrument rating training for the flight crew. It was stated in the findings that the “cockpit gradient” was very steep by both experience and military rank and that cockpit resource management and cockpit management was “unacceptable.”

At the time of the accident, Charles was the pilot flying (PF) and pilot-in-command (PIC) and seated in the right-hand pilot seat, whereas the co-pilot was navigating and performing pilot-not-flying (PNF) duties and seated in the left-hand pilot seat. The aircraft departed Base Camp Ayanganna in Georgetown on an unscheduled military resupply mission and made a refuelling stop at Olive Creek before continuing west to Arau. Approximately 25 minutes after leaving Olive Creek, the helicopter flew from Visual Flight Rule (VFR) conditions into Inadvertent Instrument Meteorological Conditions.

The report said the helicopter entered low scattered clouds in a mountainous area which subsequently became dense and opaque (IIMC). The helicopter impacted trees about 38 nautical miles northwest of SYOC, fell to the ground, caught fire and was burnt down.”

Further, the report highlighted that the aircraft was not listed on the GDF’s Air Operator Certificate (AOC) as it was operated in the “Private Category” and not governed by the restrictions of a commercial AOC or by the conditions of the GDF Flight Operations Manual. It was found that prior to and up to the time of the report, the GCAA had “no flight operations inspector current” on the Bell 412 helicopter to adequately carry out regulatory surveillance and oversight activities.

An emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal was received at approximately 11:19 hrs. on December 8, 2023, the approximate time of the accident.

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• Deodat Indar, GDF Bell 412 helicopter, GDF crash report, Helicopter crash

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