Tobago Chamber concerned over disaster readiness

The Tobago Division of the  Chamber of Industry and Commerce has expressed concern over the country’s disaster preparedness capacity following Monday’s crash-landing of a Tobago Express aircraft at Piarco. According to the Chamber, this near-tragic incident, along with a situation last Friday where flights were delayed for approximately three hours as a result of apparent maintenance problems, must raise serious questions. It has called for “the powers that be” to implement contingency plans to deal with the attendant potential problems and avoid disruptions in the air services between the both islands and at the same time ensuring that maintenance standards are not in any way compromised.

THA Secretary for Tourism, Neil Wilson, cleared the air on the “misconception” that Crown Point Airport was not equipped to deal with emergencies. “Tobago is prepared for these eventualities, but we have never had an incident like this at Crown Point and it has happened before at Piarco so they are better tuned to handle the situation. Plus whenever a plane has to crash land, it has to get rid of the fuel and it was only logical to return to Trinidad since it was closer,” he explained.

Wilson also told Newsday that although it was an unfortunate incident, it was good that it had occurred during the off-season. He said that there was no urgent need to lease an additional carrier to service the route since he had been informed by Tobago Express that at least one other aircraft would have been back on stream yesterday. Meanwhile, the cancellation of flights as a result of Monday’s incident has thrown the local airbridge into chaos. Passengers holding tickets for yesterday who turned up at Crown Point were informed that a Caribbean Star charter was willing to accommodate them, but they would have to repurchase tickets from that airline. Business persons waiting to collect packages, including newspaper vendors, were also inconvenienced.

There were no reports, though, of untoward behaviour or violence at the airport as passengers reportedly came and left quietly. Newsday was also informed that arrangements were made for BWIA and LIAT to help “pick up the slack,” but that LIAT will only transport passengers from Trinidad to Tobago on its way to other destinations. Up to late yesterday afternoon, none of the airlines had operated any domestic flights and Tobago Express’ staff was unable to provide a schedule of arrivals or departures.