Haiti bans private planes as probe continues into fatal crash
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) – The General Directorate of the National Office of Civil Aviation (OFNAC) in Haiti has banned all private aircraft from flying as the investigation continues into Wednesday’s crash of a small plane on a road that killed at least five people and injured several others.
READ: Five dead after small plane crashes into soda truck in Haiti
The OFNAC said it was advising owners and users of private aircraft that they are prohibited from flying until further notice, giving no indication as to how long the ban would be in effect.
The investigation comes amidst media reports that the Cesna 207 with the registration HH-FAH that crashed on a street in Carrefour on Wednesday, was operating illegally.
Media reports quote OFNAC director, Laurent Joseph Dumas, as saying that the private plane which regularly provided the Port-au-Prince to Jacmel connection had been operating without a permit to carry out commercial flights.
The plane had taken off from Port-au-Prince at 3:44 pm (local time) bound for Jacmel, but it developed engine trouble and the pilot made a distress call 20 minutes into the flight.
The pilot, Amado R Gutierres, a foreign national, survived the crash but died at the Diquini hospital. The plane crash also resulted in the death of a motorcycle taxi driver and seriously injured five people after it struck a bus.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry has said he was “deeply saddened” at the accident and extended “sympathies to the families of the victims.
“I have instructed the competent authorities, in particular OFNAC, to immediately launch an investigation to determine the causes of this tragic accident which is mourning the entire country,” he added.
