Investigations into aircraft accidents and incidents will be further enhanced through the exchange of expertise, training and the use of facilities among the member States of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS), and the Transport Safety Board of Canada (TSB). This development comes on the heels of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding among the parties on October 15, 2018 in Montreal, Canada on the side lines of the 13 th Air Navigation Conference.
The Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt. Col. Egbert Field signed the MOU on behalf of Guyana which provides for improved investigation standards, policies, guidelines, procedures, training of investigators and providing investigation support as requested by either party.
The member States of CASSOS include Barbados, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) which includes Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The MOU also provides for the exchange of information on investigation and operational experience, joint development of techniques, methodologies, standards and procedures and initial training and refresher courses for investigators.
The Director General of GCAA welcomed the initiative to have the opportunities presented in the MOU for greater assistance in aircraft accident and incident investigation, as well as the training opportunities for investigators available to each member state from the Transport and Safety Board of Canada.
Ms. Paula McAdam is Guyana’s only aircraft accident and incident investigator. In 2017, Guyana had three aircraft accidents, two of which were fatal. Investigations into those accidents are still ongoing.
