Stranded in Chile: TT stickmen hauled off plane over PCR report in Spanish

JOEL BAILEY and STEPHON NICHOLAS

There was chaos and confusion at the Santiago de Chile Airport on Tuesday as Trinidad and Tobago's junior hockey team were ordered off their Copa Airlines plane, scheduled to depart at 12.05pm local time.

The TT under-21 players and support staff were returning home after placing sixth at the Junior Pan Am Hockey Championships in Santiago, Chile.

According to Ministry of Health guidelines, all TT citizens abroad must produce a negative PCR test no later than 72 hours before their flight home.

Newsday understands the PCR test reports for the TT contingent were in Spanish – the official language of Chile.

The TT Hockey Board (TTHB) said in a media release on Tuesday, the TT Under-21 men’s team “were seated on the plane when Copa Airlines officials asked them all to deplane, because of the language of the PCR report.”

The media release continued, “The contingent had already secured the necessary TTO Travel Pass approvals to travel.”

TTHB president Douglas Camacho said the Copa Airlines officials said "for Trinidad they need it in English – or something to that effect...Whether it's the Trinidad side told them that or it's the protocol, I'm not sure."

A source on the team described Tuesday's experience as "chaotic."

The team was scheduled to depart Chile on a six-hour flight to Panama. From Panama, they were expected to leave at 9.10 pm and arrive in Piarco at 1.18 am on Wednesday.

The source said, "We checked out the hotel this morning about 8 am, got on a bus, got to the airport and proceeded to get the check-in area.

"While checking in, one of the staff – a rep for Copa – said they need to call Trinidad to confirm if they would accept the Spanish PCR test. They proceeded to check us in but would only give boarding pass when they get confirmation."

The source said they later printed the boarding card and Swissport staff said everything was fine.

"If you have a boarding pass then that's permission to fly, not so?

"We went through security gate, scanned boarding card, and they put us on the plane. When we sat down, they said passengers to Trinidad have to get off the plane. They said Trinidad said you can't use the Spanish PCR test and you need to get off the plane."

Asked about the reaction of the players, a source on the team said, "Not much you can do, it's really admirable the way the players have handled the things that arose."

The source said nobody wants to take the blame for what transpired.

"It's been a back and forth ever since, Trinidad said they would accept a google translate, Copa said no they won't. It's a bit chaotic."

"The leaning seems to be we're here for a few more days."

The source said the team got its PCR test done by BIOCLINIC.

"The test says 'negativo' – how hard could that be to translate?"

The TT players and management team remained in limbo at the Santiago de Chile Airport on Tuesday afternoon.

They would be forced to find accommodation at a different hotel, with the next available flight set for September 11.

The team includes players 17 to 21 years old, including two unvaccinated minors.

The source said the team subsequently heard rumours that immigration officials who allowed the junior women's team to return last week with a Spanish PCR test were disciplined. However, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said on Tuesday he had no knowledge of this.

Asked if a person must have an English PCR test to enter Trinidad, Hinds told Newsday, “If someone presents a document not in the official language of TT and someone working on behalf of TT has the problem of interpreting it, the onus will be on the presenter of the document to rectify that problem.

“Otherwise, the authorities acting on behalf of TT will have to have, in their midst, someone who can attend to all languages of the world. And that does not make sense.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Amery Browne promised to contact Chile’s Ambassador to TT Juan Barria Garcia “to solicit his assistance, to try to get a hold of Copa Airlines to ensure that an alternative flight option is found as soon as possible, for these young people to return home and to ensure when they sit on a Copa Airlines flight, they are not confronted with such a ridiculous request.”

When contacted, Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe said she was “puzzled” by the decision from Copa Airlines.

She added, “I have not received any information from any member of the team nor any parent.”