|
Plane bumps office at VG airport (PHOTO) |
|
|
|
|
Written by Webmaster
|
|
Wednesday, 26 March 2008 |
Alison Martin had lost her bag the day before. On Tuesday, she waited at the Virgin Gorda airport with her husband and two young children for a plane to take her to San Juan. Then she heard the noise of crashing metal and smelt oil on the dirt runway.
It was 8:10 a.m., and an Air Sunshine plane, after landing on the VG runway, had hit an Island Bird aircraft’s tail wing with one wing, smashed airport office window panels with the other wing, and finally come to a stop against a fenced departure gate, just inches from a vehicle. Fire and Rescue Service officials respond to an Air Sunshine accident that closed the Virgin Gorda airport Tuesday. The pilot — the only occupant of the airplane — escaped unharmed. (Photo: Raj Jadeo) “I was going to be on that plane,” Ms. Martin said. “I’m glad I wasn’t” The pilot — the only occupant of the 12-seat Cessna 402C plane — escaped unharmed, according to BVI Airports Authority Manager Denniston Fraser, who added that this is the third accident at the runway in the past five years. On Tuesday morning, firefighters and police rushed to the airport while Air Safety Support International (ASSI) BVIAA officers investigated the accident. “I’m looking at the runway right as we speak. The runway is 31 feet in length and I know runways throughout the world that are much shorter than this. … The fact that it is this length doesn’t mean that it is unsafe,” Mr. Fraser said. Asked if the VG runway is safe, he added: “Very much so. The airport is licenced by ASSI. You have many dirt runways all over the world. You have runways in the UK that are basically beaches.”
See full story in the March 27, 2008 issue of The BVI Beacon.
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 28 March 2008 )
|
Home 