Caribbean news. Canadian Pilot, Captain Blake Slater and his lone passenger, ground handler Dwayne Jacobs have been found dead at the site of the Trans Guyana Plane crash in a densely forested area in the Mazaruni region close to Olive Creek.
After spotting the crash site on Sunday, ground troops from the Guyana Defence Force were able to reach the site of the plane crash early on Monday morning where they found both men dead.
Captain Blake Slater a Canadian citizen of Guyanese heritage doing what he loved. Photo courtesy Guyana Graphic
The aircraft was reported missing on Saturday just moments after the pilot reported to air traffic control that he was encountering difficulties. The small cessna caravan aircraft was spotted by other planes going down in the area and a search and rescue operation was activated immediately.
However, rescuers were not able to locate and spot the actual scene of the accident until Sunday and they began moves to get in the area immediately. Members of the GDF were lowered from a helicopter to a location about one mile from the crash site and had to walk to the scene.
Relatives of the two men were hoping that they would have survived the accident. Article courtesy http://newssourcegy.com
Further report from craneforum.org below:
Recovery teams will move back into the Olive Creek area in the Mazaruni area to continue with their efforts to extract the bodies of Pilot Blake Slater and Cargo Handler Dwayne Jacobs from the wreckage of the Trans Guyana plane crash. They were the only two persons aboard the aircraft
The recovery teams were forced to suspend their operations on Monday because of bad weather conditions. Reports from sources close to the teams indicate that there was no way the men could have survived the accident.
The source explained that parts of the plane were torn apart as it crashed through the dense forests in the area.
The pilot was found pinned in the cockpit while the cargo handler was found buried under debris from the accident and drums of fuel. NEWS PHOTO
The Cessna Caravan aircraft went missing on Saturday morning just moments after the pilot reported to air traffic control that he was experiencing difficulties with the engine. Other pilots who were flying in the same area reported that the plane was seen going down into the forested area.
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority immediately launched a search and rescue operation which continued all day Saturday and into Sunday morning.
The search and rescue became a recovery operation when the wreckage was spotted by the GDF helicopter on Sunday and ground troops were lowered into an area close to the crash site.
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority has launched a full investigation into the fatal plane crash.
Photo courtesy www.aviation-safety.net
