A Fly Jamaica flight headed to Toronto was forced to make a crash-landing at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Georgetown, Guyana. The crash landing occurred on November 9th, and the Boeing jet had 126 people aboard when it was forced to the ground injuring ten people, according to the transport minister.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fly Jamaica flight overshoots runway at Guyana airport, injuring 6 passengers. <a href="https://t.co/tPzR4KDuae">https://t.co/tPzR4KDuae</a> <a href="https://t.co/UvaHSLxf4H">pic.twitter.com/UvaHSLxf4H</a></p>— NBC News (@NBCNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1060978148236505089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The scene was described as "chaos" as the giant Boeing jetliner with 82 Canadians aboard crash-landed in Guyana's capital city of Georgetown. The commercial jet came to a screeching halt just before a steep embankment which could have caused far more injuries. The Transport Minister David Patterson said the jet was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff due to a hydraulic problem.
One passenger named Invor Bedessee described the scene as injured passengers were being offloaded from the flight. "Everyone was going crazy, screaming, crying for their lives, everything," Bedessee said. "There were (some people) injured because of coming down the slide or not getting off the flight fast enough, so the people behind them were kicking them. There was a lot of chaos."
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fly Jamaica <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OJ256?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OJ256</a> to Toronto returned to Georgetown, Guyana shortly after departure with a mechanical issue and went off the end of the runway after landing. Local media report 120 people on board; some hurt. <br> NewsRoom Guyana <a href="https://t.co/Ont5RlOUp5">pic.twitter.com/Ont5RlOUp5</a></p>— Tom Podolec Aviation (@TomPodolec) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPodolec/status/1060837048628719619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Bedessee reported that the flight's initial takeoff was delayed by 45 minutes after one of the left-side doors was "not closed properly". A maintenance crew was called upon to fix the problem and the plane soon took off before being immediately forced to land. Transport Minister Patterson described the injuries sustained by passengers as not life-threatening and the injured were taken to a nearby hospital.
Guyana's Chief Medical Officer, Shamdeo Persaud, reported that five passengers had been referred to the hospital with possible spinal injuries. There were a total of 118 passengers on board the Boeing 757-200. Canadian government spokesman Philip Hannan in Ottawa said, "To date, we have no reports of any Canadian citizens being injured."
"Canadian consular officials are in contact with local authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance to Canadian citizens if needed," Persaud continued. The pilot of the jet reported a problem with the hydraulic system about 10 minutes into the flight which departed around 2:10 a.m.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Fly Jamaica plane makes emergency landing in Guyana<a href="https://t.co/Ngyd5ursOZ">https://t.co/Ngyd5ursOZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/HkuXBYGA96">pic.twitter.com/HkuXBYGA96</a></p>— Mirror Breaking News (@MirrorBreaking_) <a href="https://twitter.com/MirrorBreaking_/status/1060860089995853824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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"We flew about 10, 15 minutes in the air, just over the Atlantic ocean, and we were circling around a few times and the captain announced there's some hydraulic problems, and we had to return to the airport," Bedessee explained to CBC. "When we landed on the ground, the wheels were still spinning, they were not braking, there was no hydraulic brakes to brake the wheels and then we overshot the runway."
"One of the wings came apart and the engine on the right side actually flipped over and we crashed into a big sand pile at the edge of a cliff. There's a big drop about 30, 40 feet (nine to 12 meters) on the other side," he continued. "If we had 10 more feet, we would be down in the cliff, down in the ditch. It was a miracle." Bedessee added that the incident left him feeling "very shaken and very, I don't know, nervous."
"It's like all of my goosebumps are going crazy, just it's a shock and awe, more or less," he said. Fly Jamaica confirmed the accident saying, "We can confirm that Fly Jamaica flight OJ256 bound for Toronto has returned to Georgetown with a technical problem and has suffered an accident on landing. At this time, we believe that all 118 passengers and eight crew members are safe. We are providing local assistance and will release further information as soon as it is available."
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