Plane goes to museum

AN unclaimed YS-11 aircraft at Piarco International Airport will be donated to the Chaguaramas Military and Aerospace Museum. An official from the Airports Authority told Newsday on Monday that no one had come to claim the plane.

The authority issued a public notice asking either for the owner or people with a legal interest in the aircraft to claim it.

As a result of no one coming forward, the authority said last week, the plane will be donated to the museum. The authority said it has been unable to date to identify the owner and said this was why a public notice was issued about the aircraft.

Checks by Newsday suggested the plane could be the property of now defunct Air Caribbean. This airline was launched in 1993 and used YS-11 aircraft during the first five years of its operations.

Air Caribbean included Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet in July 1998, but they proved to be a financial burden on the airline. In October 2000, Air Caribbean was closed down after the airline incurred massive debts and its 737 planes were scrapped in the US. One YS-11 was reportedly still at Piarco, in an abandoned state.