by Bennette Roach
In an email sent to us as early as 5.48 this morning, Nigel Harris of Montserrat Airways Ltd. who operates the small airline FlyMontserrat, sent the disburbing if not showing real lack respect for passengers, the following:
“All FlyMontserrat’s flights are running normally from 9 a.m. this morning following an incident at Montserrat’s John A Osborne Airport on Monday afternoon.
“The aircraft, on a flight from Antigua with 6 passengers, carried out a normal approach and landing on arrival, at about 4.30 p.m.
As the aircraft approached the far end of Runway 10, the Pilot turned,
but due to the wet runway surface, the aircraft vacated the runway at a very slow speed, estimated at 1-2mph.
Thanks to the skill of the pilot, no-one was hurt in the incident, but the aircraft incurred some damage to its rear elevator, and to its
“As is normal, the relevant authorities have been informed and investigations continue into all aspects of the flight.”
In at least one of the previous, but less impacting incidents, the airport was closed for some period certainly to the operations of FlyMontserrat while an official clearance given upon evidence of guaranteed safety by other than the obviously self-serving managing director of Montserrat Airways.
Late in the afternoon the Governor’s office issued the following press release as a follow-up to the below.
Meanwhile Premier Donaldson Romeo and Minister Paul Lewis both commented via a news report through ZJBNews expressing views of the injuryless incident, while “we await findings from an investigation by the appropriate authority” upon which they will be guided.
The Governor and his Office express their sympathy to all those involved in yesterday’s incident at the John A. Osborne Airport in Montserrat. It was a huge relief that no one was injured.
We would also like to express our appreciation to the emergency services and airport authorities for their swift response and their hard work into what was a very rainy evening afterwards. Their commitment and skill are a great reassurance to us all in this small island community.
A team from the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) in the UK will be arriving in Montserrat tomorrow to work with the local investigator to help take forward an investigation. This will be important to ensure that any necessary lessons are identified, learned and implemented.
In the meantime, discussions are underway on whether adjustments in airport operations are required pending the fuller investigation.
After landing at about 4.20 p.m. today, September 23, 2019, at the John A. Osborne airport, Fly Montserrat encountered its fourth major aviation incident, when as the Governor’s office an hour later, confirmed, “a FlyMontserrat Islander ran off the runway at the John A Osborne Airport today.”
The aircraft after landing seeming encountered difficulty and did not stop until running off the runway, fortunately as it avoided “no injuries (serious) as early reports indicate, coming to a stop at the top the ghaut at the end of the Runway.
The Governor has responsibility for the airport and such matters, also confirmed in the brief note, “all six passengers and the pilot are unharmed. The airport is closed until further notice while the incident is investigated and the plane removed.”
FlyMontserrat’s last major reported incident was we reported October 13, 2012, “another FlyMontserrat aircraft had run off the runway at John A. Osborne airport in Montserrat…This comes after its fatal crash in Antigua on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012 with three dead and one critically injured….”
Questions follow suspicion that this aircraft might be the same that has been involved in similar incidents, like the Britten-Norman BN-2A-27 Islander in April 2011 and later.
Related:
Related articles:
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20110416-1
