PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) –Trinidad and Tobago’s Finance Minister Colm Imbert said Tuesday that it was fuel supply to the left engine of a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight on Monday night that forced the airline to make an emergency landing at the Piarco International Airport.
Passengers aboard the flight from Tobago to Trinidad were instructed to assume the crash position after the pilot had declared an emergency.
Imbert, responding to a question in the Senate from Trinidad and Tobago’s Opposition Chief Whip, Wade Mark, said information provided to him by the state-owned CAL indicated there was a problem with the measurement of fuel for the plane’s left engine and there was nothing wrong with the plane itself.
“Based on what I am seeing in this report it appears there was a problem with fuel for one of the engines and one of the engines basically ran out of fuel which caused the captain to make the mandatory announcement to the passengers that they should get into the position that is recommended for an emergency landing”, said Imbert.
He told legislators of the Twin Island Republic that the plane had been taken out of service and that the pilot and two technicians, who would have knowledge about the fuel supply to the plane’s engines, are also not on active duty at this time.
He said this is common procedure in matters of this nature.
“They will follow their normal procedures. I don’t want to say much. I don’t know the names of the individuals myself, I don’t think I should get involved in that, but Caribbean Airlines will follow all the established procedures in accordance with civil aviation rules and regulations and their own internal relations procedure to make sure that all persons involved get a fair hearing and that the root cause of the problem is determined,” said Imbert, who has oversight of the state-owned airline.
In a statement, CAL had said that the ATR 72-600 flying from Tobago to Trinidad left the ANR Robinson International Airport in Tobago at 9.31pm (local time) and had “declared an emergency landing” but arrived safely at the Piarco International Airport 34 minutes later.
“All the required operational procedures are being followed regarding passengers and crew,” the airline said.
There were 68 passengers and four crew members on board.
CAL said that the aircraft had been taken out of service “to facilitate inspection” amid reports that the emergency was due to an engine failure.
In a video captured by a passenger aboard the twin turboprop aircraft, the cabin crew can be heard repeatedly calling on passengers to “brace” and to keep their heads down and hands over their head as the plane descended into Trinidad.
The cries of children can also be heard.