Inter-island seaplane forced to shut down one engine in Charlotte Amalie harbour
|
| Published on Friday, March 9, 2007 |
Email To Friend Print Version |
By Melody Wiggins
Caribbean Net News St Croix Correspondent
Email: melody@caribbeannetnews.com
ST CROIX, USVI: Seaborne Airlines pilots took precautionary measures and shut down one engine Thursday afternoon after they landed in the Charlotte Amalie harbour on a scheduled run from St Croix to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.
The deHavilland Twin Otter was towed to the St Thomas dock by a boat which offered assistance, said Seaborne president and CEO Omer ErSelcuk Thursday. No injuries were sustained by passengers and the aircraft has been taken out of service for maintenance.
ErSelcuk said pilots noticed what they thought to be a fuel leak from one of the engines after landing in the water and took the precaution to turn off that engine. The Twin Otter operates with two engines and two pilots.
A passenger aboard that flight, who asked not to be identified, said "it was a very scary experience," adding "you should thank God for every day." The passenger said the airboat "spun around" in the water when the engine was shut down.
"We exercised caution and the crew is to be commended for doing the right thing," ErSelcuk said. "The harbour was extremely rough due to the wind condition," he said. "The craft can be controlled with one engine," ErSelcuk continued, but "there were a lot of vessels in the harbour … the captain used his discretion to ask for assistance to be towed to the dock."
Passengers were asked to don life vests according to safety procedures. "If one of the vessels [in the harbor] had bumped us we would have had to evacuate," ErSelcuk said. There were approximately 10 passengers on board that 3 pm flight.
Seaborne Airlines regularly operates four aircraft on its Virgin Islands inter-island flights. This is the first time in three years (50,000 flights) that an engine had to be shut down, ErSelcuk said.
"We have an extremely reliable aircraft." | | | | Reads : 178 | | | |
|
|
