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PILOTS WEREN'T RATED TO FLY DOOMED PLANE: Questions mount over fatal crash as police confirm jet had been reported stolen

Thu, Jul 8th 2021, 08:00 AM
Accident/Emergency Crime Tribune Stories

TWO Bahamian pilots who died in a fiery plane crash in Abaco on Monday were not qualified to fly the jet, perplexing investigators who have since opened a stolen aircraft inquiry into the matter.

Investigators are trying to piece together the suspicious circumstances that prompted the former Royal Bahamas Defence Force marines to fly the plane.
#Captain Delvin Major, chief investigator of the Air Accident Investigation Authority, said yesterday that Jason Allen was a student pilot and that while Lavan Paul had an airline transport licence, he did not have a type rating to fly the aircraft. Pilots of such planes require a type rating certification, which involves additional training beyond their initial instruction.
#In a statement yesterday, police also said officers of the Marsh Harbour Police Station on Tuesday received a report that the plane was stolen from the Treasure Cay Airport.
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The scene of the crash on Monday.
#“Initially,” police said in a statement, “the plane was reported arriving in Treasure Cay, Abaco on Friday, July 2, 2021 and was scheduled to depart on Monday, 5 July 2021 when the airplane was said to be stolen. Further, police along with agencies are investigating an apparent plane crash in Treasure Cay, Abaco, where two pilots lost their lives. The airplane is estimated at $300,000.”
#The Tribune understands two foreign pilots who flew the plane into Treasure Cay from the Dominican Republic on Friday filed the stolen plane report on Tuesday. Immigration officers had taken the men into custody but subsequently released them. Why they were detained has not been explained. Yesterday, a senior police officer said he was informed the two men have already left the country.
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THE CRASHED plane.
#It is not clear when Allen and Paul arrived in Treasure Cay or why they sought out the Westwind jet. However, sources in Treasure Cay said the pair went through the normal procedures to board the jet, including presenting a required document to customs officials.
#The jet crashed shortly after 3.30pm on Monday. According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft appeared to not be making enough power and seemed to struggle to get off the ground.
#“The aircraft used the entire runway and ended in bushes approximately 2,000 feet beyond the end of the usable runway after hitting several trees along the debris path,” Captain Major said earlier this week.

Investigators are trying to piece together the suspicious circumstances that prompted the former Royal Bahamas Defence Force marines to fly the plane.

Captain Delvin Major, chief investigator of the Air Accident Investigation Authority, said yesterday that Jason Allen was a student pilot and that while Lavan Paul had an airline transport licence, he did not have a type rating to fly the aircraft. Pilots of such planes require a type rating certification, which involves additional training beyond their initial instruction.

In a statement yesterday, police also said officers of the Marsh Harbour Police Station on Tuesday received a report that the plane was stolen from the Treasure Cay Airport.

“Initially,” police said in a statement, “the plane was reported arriving in Treasure Cay, Abaco on Friday, July 2, 2021 and was scheduled to depart on Monday, 5 July 2021 when the airplane was said to be stolen. Further, police along with agencies are investigating an apparent plane crash in Treasure Cay, Abaco, where two pilots lost their lives. The airplane is estimated at $300,000.”

The Tribune understands two foreign pilots who flew the plane into Treasure Cay from the Dominican Republic on Friday filed the stolen plane report on Tuesday. Immigration officers had taken the men into custody but subsequently released them.

Why they were detained has not been explained. Yesterday, a senior police officer said he was informed the two men have already left the country.

It is not clear when Allen and Paul arrived in Treasure Cay or why they sought out the Westwind jet. However, sources in Treasure Cay said the pair went through the normal procedures to board the jet, including presenting a required document to customs officials.

The jet crashed shortly after 3.30pm on Monday. According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft appeared to not be making enough power and seemed to struggle to get off the ground.

“The aircraft used the entire runway and ended in bushes approximately 2,000 feet beyond the end of the usable runway after hitting several trees along the debris path,” Captain Major said earlier this week.

Click here to read more at The Tribune

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