Investigators still probing St Thomas plane crash
INVESTIGATORS say they are still trying to piece together the clues in their probe of the more than two-week-old aeroplane crash in Eleven Miles, St Thomas.
“We are working on a number of things, so we haven’t come to a conclusion as yet. But when we do, a final report will be made,” Aviation Safety Inspector at the Civil Aviation Authority Richard Jones told the Observer.
In the meantime, he said the four individuals who were aboard the flight had left the island for the Dominican Republic – their original destination.
“We interviewed the people who were on the aeroplane, but the purpose of an accident investigation is really not to attribute liability or blame; what we are really looking at is what really caused the accident and what can be done to prevent another,” Jones pointed out.
With regards to the international investigators who were called in to assist with investigations, Jones said they had already left the island. He noted that it was “normal and standard procedure” for them to be called in.
“They may or may not return, but we are still doing our investigations [and] when it is concluded, the director-general of the authority and the minister will make the announcements,” he added.
Meanwhile, the head of the St Thomas CIB, detective inspector Carlos Bell, told the Observer that the craft had been removed from the original crash site, but was still in the parish. However, he said it would eventually be moved to the Norman Manley International Airport.
The four passengers aboard the single-engine Cirrus aeroplane headed for the Dominican Republic narrowly escaped serious injury on September 20 when the craft reportedly developed a fuel problem and crashed in the hills of 11 Miles, Bull Bay, some 20 minutes after take-off from the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.