Fuel glitch grounds CAL plane

FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert has said a fuel problem was the reason a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) ATR 72-600 aircraft had to make an emergency landing at Piarco International Airport on January 27.

He was answering a question from Opposition Senator Wade Mark in the Senate on January 28.

Before giving his response, Imbert reminded senators the Finance Ministry is the reporting ministry for CAL. During the tenure of the UNC-led People's Partnership coalition government, May 2010-September 2015, CAL was reassigned from the Works and Transport Ministry to the Finance Ministry.

Referring to information on his cellphone, Imbert said CAL had informed him about the incident, which happened at 10 pm on January 27.

While the CAL report was very technical, he saidd, it appears there was a problem with fuel for one of the engines.

"One of the engines basically ran out of fuel, which caused the captain to make the mandatory announcement, in accordance with civil aviation regulations, to the passengers that they should get into the position that is recommended for an emergency landing."

Imbert told senators, "The captain managed to pilot the aircraft safely and landed well."

He added there were no injuries to passengers or crew and the plane has been withdrawn from service.

Imbert repeated, "It appears that the problem arose from inaccurate measurements of the amount of fuel in the left tank of the aircraft.

Mark asked if an investigation had been launched.

Imbert said, "No problem at all. I did myself ask that question. It's a natural question to ask."

He identified the plane's pilot and two technicians as the people who would know how much "fuel was in the particular tank that fed the particular engine that had the problem," and said, "These three individuals are not in active service at this point in time.

"It is normal when you are doing an investigation. They (CAL) will follow their normal procedures."

Imbert said he did not know the names of the three people involved, and this was not a matter for him to become involved in.

"CAL will follow all the established procedures, in accordance with civil aviation rules and regulations, and their own internal industrial relations procedures to make sure that all persons involved get a fair hearing and that the root cause of the problem is determined."

Imbert said it is unnecessary to withdraw all CAL ATR 72-600's from service because of this incident.

In response to another comment from Mark, Imbert said he was unaware of another incident which took place last August with another CAL plane.

"I am told that preliminary information is there is nothing wrong with the aircraft itself. It's simply the measurement of the amount of fuel that was in the tank. There is nothing wrong with the plane."

Imbert thanked Mark for the information he provided.

"Now that you have told me there was an incident with an aircraft last year, I will certainly ask for details."

Last August, a CAL plane had to make an emergency landing at Piarco when a warning light came on in the cockpit.

A video which was widely circulated on social media on Tuesday – but which has not been verified as being the CAL aircraft which made the emergency landing – shows what appears to be the inside of a commercial aircraft with people shouting, "Brace, brace..." amidst the sound of children crying.

The incident made news across the region, with one report in the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper saying the flight had to make an emergency landing after "suffering engine failure."

In a statement, CAL said BW Flight 1451, which left the Crown Point Airport at Tobago at 9.31 pm, had “declared an emergency landing” and arrived safely at the Piarco about 34 minutes later.