Guyana Defence Force rescues pilot following small plane crash

CMC – Members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) late Monday rescued the pilot of the single-engine Cessna plane that crashed Monday as it headed to Georgetown from the town of Mabaruma to the northwest of here.

The plane that belongs to a US Medical missionary group was on medical evacuation mission at the time of the incident.

According to Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Egbert Field said the United States-registered plane ran out of fuel and went down, just a few miles from the airport.

Demerara Waves online reports that  after an almost five-hour operation that included the Guyana Defence Force Air Corps and ground troops, Captain Lincoln Gomez and a policeman Michael Grimmond were taken to the army helicopter and flown to Georgetown.

Gomez was rushed by GDF ambulance to the Georgetown Public Hospital, while Grimmond was taken by the army’s ambulance to the privately-owned St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital.

The GCAA says the plane went on a mission to get the corpse of an American missionary, who died while climbing a mountain – however, the body was left at the crash site.

The    plane was flying out the body from the interior of the country to the Eugene F. Correia ‘Ogle’ International Airport when the mishap occurred .

The plane bearing US registration markings, N8 704T, is operated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church to provide emergency medical evacuation services mainly from the interior.