Following, the FlyMontserrat fourth accident on September 23, 2019, almost miraculously avoiding a serious fatal accident, His Excellency Governor Pearce said at the press meet a couple days after, “ASSI folks are the expert, they will come out and have a look – The Governor’s responsibility is a sort of oversight responsibility here in Montserrat. I am not an expert in airport safety runway– be wrong for me or any Governor of any sort to take on some civic operational responsibility in that way – stand back with a sense of overarching responsibility.
“…Manager Joseph – it is not for me to second guess an airport manager, certainly not…,” the Governor had said. Of course not there is an ‘Inspector’ Investigator, who should have been engaged immediately under his authority, which now, he continues to feign ignorance.
Commenting on questions, about allowing FlyMontserrat to be back in the skies at the crack of dawn next day, he repeated the decision about closing the airport, when it is wet, but he explained thus: “…when the airport is wet, kind of a technical term, doesn’t mean when there are puddles – it is not to mean that we believe necessarily that the wet runway was the cause of the accident – speculation we don’t know – was because of a wet runway…”
Again, except the Civil Aviation (Investigation of air accidents and incidents) Regulations 2007 has been replaced with something entirely different and no longer in force. At last minute we discover a document, “Briefing Pack on Aviation Safety Regulation in OTs” which includes “The Role of the Governor in Aviation Regulation Summary”. In that it says, “As the appointed representative of the Queen in a Territory, the Governor has specific responsibilities regarding the regulation of civil aviation.”
Accident is described in the 2007 Regulations as: “…an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked…
‘incident’ means “an occurrence, other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft which affects or would affect the safety of operation;”
Let also note the Governor saying that “That was because they had grounds to believe that the very wet conditions at the time of the accident may have contributed to it,” when he spoke ASSI’s eventual concurrency with the earlier decision by airport management.
“The restriction is not when the runway is just damp, but when it is seriously wet. There is specific technical guidance on this for air traffic controllers.”
What the public and all are having difficulty is that the airport is closed as long as rain of any kind has fallen or is falling, be it just a light drizzle, the usual 1-2 minute down-pour Montserrat shower!
There is enough evidence to show that the Governor while he says that certain operators do not have any managing role re the function of the airport and especially that falls under his authority, is in that direction he leans. That is an old story, but not a complex one and he is not the first to be a prey in that regard.
The code of operation for the functioning of the airport in part is almost verbatim out of the 2007 Regulations, and the Governor features heavily in that. There is an ‘inspector’ or local term ‘investigator, who works along with the Governor and as expected the manager.
Paul Gravel, SVG airlines managing director is absolutely correct with his report on the cause and what ‘happened’ on September 23, 2020, along with their thoughts he expressed surrounding the airport and runway. A video review with all the other factors/circumstances and eye witness (expert and otherwise) (take care of matters. (see lead story – pics:
The question also is when is the airport ‘wet’ enough to force the airport controllers to say, ‘sorry’ no landing right now…, which would force a pilot on his way to Montserrat with passengers, to pick up waiting passengers, forced to return to Antigua during a 15-20 minute flight.
restrictions prevent the runway being used in “wet conditions…”
ASSI in a recent Statement nine days short of five months after the September 23 ‘incident’ as they referred to it, merely sent out a statement re the closure of the runway. They are the experts, but was it an accident or an incident? Where is the Report? And, what is the implication of the differences in the term chosen? Who checked the aircraft soonest after the ‘accident’ (there were people/passengers on the flight) before it was put back in operation? When was the pilot and by whom questioned? Was there a report filed to the Governor before that ‘infamous’ authoritative email?
Does it have any implications for the airline involved? All questions for the Governor and ASSI who must explain what could possibly cause the delay? How are the controllers at JA Osborne airport interpreting ASSI’s wet conditions. (See front page story for the descriptions they operate under). WET — the surface is soaked but there is no standing water. The Governor uses such phrases as – ‘seriously wet’.
The government against whom people may very well march (it is not certain against whom) should really be very much more forceful to provide better answers to the people who elected them for the purpose, to look out for the welfare, advancement, etc. They must enforce their own authority under the Constitution. It cannot be that they just accept answers with a refusal to see the draft and wait indefinitely for the full report. (They (the Premier/Cabinet) shall be kept fully informed!
Some social media comments to which our attention was drawn are not mischievous. They are not wrong to interpret the Governor’s actions in the way they are in most instances.
There is much more than meet the ears or even the eyes connected to access and the affairs surrounding our port/s, as well as some other issues in the management of Montserrat. We will do our part with the support of our people.
