Authorities launch formal investigation into Suriname plane crash
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| Published on Saturday, April 5, 2008 |
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By Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: An official investigation has been launched into the cause of Thursday's plane crash in Suriname, with the establishment of a special investigation commission by prosecutor general Subhas Punwasi. The commission comprises aviation and forensic experts, police and military officers. Government officials travelled to the crash site on Friday to start the investigation.
According to John Veira, Head of the National Aviation Department, the commission is established for six months, but he has his doubts that the investigations will be completed within that time.
"Similar investigations in the past have shown that these investigations normally take one and a half year to complete," he told reporters, adding that the commission has started collecting information from eyewitnesses and other individuals in a bid to piece together what could have caused the crash.
Meanwhile, a team of six forensic experts from the Netherlands arrived in Suriname on Friday to help identify the 19 victims killed in , vice-president Ram Sardjoe told reporters. Another nine experts from the Netherlands are expected on Saturday while France will send three experts to assist in the investigation.
Aviation engineers will examine debris from the ill-fated airplane looking for answers. Initial reports indicate, however, that human error should not be ruled out, since weather conditions were normal at the time of the crash.
Investigators shortly after the aircraft plunged into the woods some 150 meters parallel to the Lawa Antino airstrip near Benzdorp found a piece of the exhaust of one of the plane's engines suggesting that engine faillure might have also contributed to the mishap.
According to accounts of eyewitnesses, the plane was already in its landing approach when the pilot tried to pull up again. However, the aircraft suddenly veered left and plunged nose down into the woods, followed by at least three explosions.
The twin-engined Antonov AN-28 aircraft operated by Blue Wing Airlines crashed in a remote jungle area at the gold-mining village of Benzdorp close to the border with French Guiana.
Due to the tragedy, President Ronald Venetiaan cancelled his trip to Trinidad and Tobago on Friday, were he was to attend a special Caricom Summit on crime and security.
While the relatives, friends and loved ones of the victims are still trying to come to terms with the country’s second worst civil aviation tragedy, authorities have not yet released the official passenger list. Rescue teams on Thursday recovered the remains of all the victims, which were subsequently transported to the capital Paramaribo.
Vice-president Sardjoe said that the authorities are not releasing the names of the victims since identification still has to be done. He noted that the bodies currently are under the authority of the prosecutor-general since the judicial investigation has started. How long the identification process will take, the government official couldn't say.
Jerrel van Embriqs, manager of Hi-Jet Rescue Operations, told reporters that shortly after the crash local miners and villagers rushed to the site and extinguished the fire by throwing dirt on the wreckage with an excavator.
“It is indescribable what we have seen at the crash site. There were 19 bodies to recover including two children and that was the hardest part,” said Van Embriqs.
Gold-miners transported rescue workers to the crash site with their all-terrain vehicles, while they also helped to transport the bodies of the victims to the airstrip where the ill-fated plane was supposed to land.
In extending condolences to the relatives of the victims, Venetiaan noted that the government will take steps to improve the safety of the airstrips in the country’s interior. The local airfields lack air-traffic control systems, forcing pilots to rely on their individual experience during landing and take-off. However, aviation authorities and rescue coordinators were quick to refute claims that safety at the Benzdorp airstrip might have contributed to the accident.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jerry Slijngaard, Head of the National Coordinating Center for Disaster Management (NCCR) told reporters that initial investigations reveal that conditions at the airstrip and also the weather were excellent.
“Given the information we have now, this accident could have happened at any other airstrip,” he said. Slijngaard, however, was reluctant to say if human failure was the cause of the mishap, deferring to completion of the official investigations.
The French government has confirmed that six French nationals died in the crash and French president Nicholas Sarkozy has extended condolences to the family of the victims. These six victims are said to be from the same family from the village Antecume Pata on the French side of the Marowijne River, near Benzdorp.
Sources told Caribbean Net News that the family of four, both parents and two children, the grandfather and a sister of the mother were returning home after shopping in Paramaribo. According to the chief of Antecume Pata, the villagers were expected tor return Thursday with the ill-fated flight.
Meanwhile, several foreign countries and agencies have offered assistance to Suriname to overcome the tragedy.
Foreign Affairs minister from the Netherlands, Maxime Verhagen, expressed shock over the plane crash. While offering condolences to the Surinamese people, he said in an official statement that the tragedy “is not only affecting the Surinamese people, but also the Surinamese community in the Netherlands and the Dutch people.” He further noted that the Dutch government is ready to assist Suriname.
Officials indicate that establishing the identity of the victims will be a grim task since all the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Suriname lacks the forensic expertise to identify such remains.
Following the country’s worst aviation accident in June 1989, when a DC-9 from Surinam Airways crashed close to the international Zanderij Airport killing 176 passengers, several victims still remain unidentified.
Blue Wing, which has operated since 2002, was barred by the European Union from landing at European airports in June 2006 after French aviation officials found safety deficiencies during an inspection of planes. The airline was removed from the blacklist in November 2007 after the company had resolved the issues. | | | | Reads : 140 |
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