THREE citizens of the Dominican Republic and an American escaped serious injury yesterday when the single-engine Cirrus aeroplane in which they were travelling crashed in the hills of 11 Miles in Bull Bay, St Thomas.

The aircraft, registered N181LM, crashed about 20 minutes after take-off from the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, after allegedly developing a fuel leak. The aircraft was headed for the Dominican Republic.

Aboard were Dominican Republic citizens Freddy Oscar, 54; 32-year-old pilot Omar Valdes; co-pilot, 28-year-old Nelson Meyes; and 79-year-old American Ellison Gauding.

Valdes, who escaped unhurt and made the over two-mile trek from the scene of the crash, said the near-miss was “nothing short of divine”.

“I was the co-pilot, I was so frightened…the only reason we are here is because of God…I was really thinking about that (death)…,” Valdes said, noting that a parachute with which the craft was outfitted prevented a disastrous end for the aeroplane and its passengers.

He was, however, mystified as to the reason for the crash. “It’s a brand new plane, 2005, but it started leaking fuel from the right side so we get unbalanced and just went down to crash,” Valdes said. The aircraft, he said, was about 3,500 feet above sea level when the incident occurred.

Residents of 11 Miles told the Observer that they beat officials from the York Park Fire Station, the Bull Bay Police Station, the Norman Manley International Airport and the Jamaica Defence Force to the scene to help the passengers.

Among the first on the scene was farmer Vivian Davis who was alerted to the plight of the passengers of the aircraft by the sputtering sounds.

“That’s my farm over there and I heard a plane and I heard like the engine stopped and then five seconds after I heard a loud sound, which was the parachute and I saw the plane coming down. From where I was standing I could see everything and I just took off running and run up there and make sure everyone was all right,” Davis told the Observer.

Labourer Freddie Clarke, who had fresh splatters of blood on his shirt, evidence of his involvement in the rescue effort, said he and his colleagues were alerted to the accident by the sound made by the parachute when it opened.

“We were working out by a site out by 11 Miles and we heard a loud explosion and when we looked to the hills we saw the plane coming down with a parachute and we ran about two-and-a-half miles uphill and we saw the passengers they seemed okay, except the old man; he seemed to be shaken, bleeding a little,” Clarke recounted.

All four were subsequently taken to the Kingston Public Hospital by personnel from the Jamaica Defence Force’s Airwing for routine treatment and then questioned about the crash.

– dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com