The Tribune

By ADRIAN GIBSON

ajbahama@hotmail.com

IN the wake of the tragic mishap at the airport in Mayaguana, one has come to discover that the Bahamas has a lax aviation regime which—but for conscious pilots and operators—could have resulted in far more aircraft-related accidents/crashes across the archipelago. Indeed, our archipelagic landscape is littered with substandard airports and it is clear that consecutive governments have relied on a helter-skelter set-up rather than developing a strategic plan for local aviation.

As a Long Islander, I know that for many years island folks have been forced to use their cars to guide emergency flights onto an airport. Indeed, the ill-fated emergency flight into Mayaguana, which unfortunately collided with two vehicles and led to the deaths of Edith Collie, 82, step-daughter Enamae Polowick and her husband, Tim Polowick (a Canadian), illuminates the gamble that Family Islanders have been taking for years in order to urgently get their loved ones to Nassau in hopes of saving lives and/or attaining better healthcare.

I find it so repulsive that the chairmen of the FNM and the PLP, Darron Cash and Bradley Roberts, have chosen to play the political blame game—politicising the deaths of human beings—even before the families have memorialized and buried their dead. How disrespectful! Quite frankly, both the FNM and the PLP are at fault for the state of the nation’s airports—Peter is no better than Paul so I’m a bit perplexed that during that family’s time of bereavement, both representatives from either party are engaged in a war of words.

In 2001, the Bahamas was assessed by the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to see if the country conformed with and adhered to the standards and practices set down by the United Nation’s technical agency for aviation—the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)—which examines the abilities, practices and performance of a country relative to the operation and maintenance of aircraft. The Bahamas was found wanting and, upon the completion of International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) audit, was downgraded. The idea of the IASA programme is to allow countries to assess each other, to verify if they are abiding by their agreements, per ICAO.

Again in 2009, the ICAO scrutinised Bahamian aviation practices and it was found that the Bahamas was not in compliance with best standards relative to the certification criteria of aerodromes, which are defined by ICAO as “defined area (s) on land or water (including any buildings, installations, and equipment) intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure and surface movement of aircraft”; regulatory requirements relative to landing strips (which, according to Captain Randy Butler, has to do with how strong the pavement should be, the colour of striping, etc).

On April 29, the FAA will be conducting yet another IASA audit of Bahamian aviation and clearly, if we don’t get our act together, their pronouncements—if adverse—could have residual effects and unfavourably affect our tourism industry. (Frankly, as I write this I’ve had to scroll up to this point as I’ve been reliably informed that FAA officials are already in the country and that the Bahamas will be once again downgraded, from a level two to a level three).

In order for that LeAir charter to have left Nassau to travel to Mayaguana, they had to file a flight plan and receive approval from the Civil Aviation Department. The landing in Mayaguana would have been solely based on the judgment of the pilots, who risked life and limb to save another life. Frankly, whilst reports indicate that two of the vehicles were lined up too close to the runway, I’m informed that the police should have been coordinating the arrangement of those vehicles. So, did they?

Beyond installing solar lights—which is a temporary fix—what is the government doing to ensure that such a mishap doesn’t recur? Is there a political will for the Bahamas to be in compliance with international regulations?

I have spoken to Sidney Collie and, quite honestly, he seems to be interested in seeking legal recourse for the deaths of his mother, sister and brother-in-law. Indeed, whilst the political parties are apportioning blame, clearly the government—whether PLP or FNM—is regulator and owner/operator of most of the country’s airports—so the buck stops with them! If legal action is taken, it most likely will be taken against the government.

What was the agreement with the I-Group relative to the airport? What was the scheduled time for completion of the work at the airport?

Where is the strategic plan for the development of the aviation sector, which—I am told—currently employs between four to five thousand Bahamians?

Are Bahamians aware that the same agency/persons, who investigate mishaps and plane crashes, are the same agency/individuals who certify pilots/companies to fly? This is more than a conflict and could lead to collusion.

On Wednesday, I spoke with Captain Bradley McPhee—the immediate past President of the Bahamas Pilots Union and a pilot of 16 years—about the state of local aviation and the recent misfortune in Mayaguana. According to McPhee, “Bahamians don’t pay any attention to aviation as they just want to get from here to there...and that’s it.”

In our conversation, he told me that in his experience flying emergency flights into Exuma, “vehicles were lined up on each end of the runway, not the side of the runway as was the case in Mayaguana.”

He said: “I have never seen it done that way before and never heard of it being done that way. When a vehicle is parked along the side of the airport, it makes a landing more dangerous. An aircraft when landing usually lines up with the centre line on the airport, so if vehicles are parked along the side of the runway, it could prohibit a pilot from judging how far they are from the centre line. Now, if vehicles are parked at both ends, we are able to fly over the vehicle on one end, touch down and use our landing lights to taxi the plane down the runway with the vehicle at the other end as a reference point.”

Mr McPhee contends that emergency aircraft going to the Family Islands is usually organized by the police and, in a few instances, by the island administrator. So, who is responsible for the organisation of the ill-starred flight and set-up of the vehicles along the air strip?

According to the former union leader: “There is a good distance between the airport in Mayaguana and the surrounding settlements. The entire airport vicinity would have been pitch black and the only lights that could be seen would’ve been those of the vehicles, particularly as the closest settlement is miles away and the roads around the airport are unlit (no BEC lighting).”

As Brad recalled his experience with flying in the Bahamas, I was stunned by some of his revelations. I discovered that all flights to islands in the southeastern Bahamas—flying above five to six thousand feet (which is most)—do so almost blinded, bouncing radio signals off each other like bats in a cave.

Once a plane is 20 to 30 miles out of Nassau, they lose communication with the tower and, unless a pilot calls Miami Air Traffic Control and requests flight following, they are “on their own.” In the Bahamas, pilots generally fly using GPS due to the lack of navigational equipment on the ground at Family Island airports and, for those islands that do have such equipment, many times they don’t work.

According to McPhee: “There is navigational equipment in Nassau, but the signal isn’t strong enough after a certain distance.”

Surprisingly, I’ve discovered that when flying to the Family Islands, pilots turn their radios to the UNICOM frequency (122.80) and make positional call-outs relative to their intended destination so that their counterparts in other airplanes could hear how many miles they are away from an airport as well as their GPS coordinates. Pilots, I am told, essentially don’t know who is flying amongst them unless there is a “call-out.” Bahamasair purportedly communicates with Miami’s flight control centre when travelling throughout the island chain, only suspending such communication and resorting to UNICOM—to determine if there are any incoming aircraft—when they are descending and seeking to land.

Moreover, I have been informed that locally registered and operated flights travelling to Grand Bahama, Abaco and Bimini all utilise Miami air traffic for flight following, due to the number of planes in that air corridor and also due to the fact that the Bahamas has no control over its own airspace (beyond five to six thousand feet). A Beech 1900 aircraft (what we refer to as a 19-seater) must pay $80 to Miami Air Traffic –for flight following on each leg— if a round trip flight is flown between Nassau and any of the aforementioned islands. The cost of flight following is even higher for larger aircraft like Sky Bahamas’ Saabs, Bahamasair’s Dash 8 and Jets and any plane having more than 30 seats and exceeding a certain weight.

Indeed, Captain Randy Butler—the CEO of Sky Bahamas—gave me a brief history of international aviation, the ICAO’s Chicago Convention (1944) and discussed the state of local aviation. Butler has been at the forefront in the fight to ensure that proper regulations and guidelines are implemented to bring local aviation up to par and “prevent aeronautical chaos.”

According to Mr Butler: “There are no proper regulations or guidelines for air traffic. Where’s the guidance material? What about certification and licenses? Air traffic controllers are certified by the Civil Aviation Department but they don’t have a card or document to identify themselves and to carry around to reflect that, as is seen with your driver’s license.”

“Article one of the ICAO 1944 Convention states that every state must have complete an exclusive control over the airspace in their territory. However, in 1952, the Bahamas gave control of its airspace to the US. Even directly over Nassau, only up to 12,000 feet is controlled by Nassau Air Traffic and anything above this is within the purview of Miami. If one is 20-30 miles out of Nassau, the FAA is in total control above five to six thousand feet. If a plane is above six thousand feet in the Bahamas, they are considered as being in US airspace,” Butler stated.

However, Butler did note the shortfalls that could be hampering the Bahamas in gaining control of its airspace, stating: “There’s a limited radar system that’s outdated and is restricted in its coverage. The US coverage is more extensive and they have re-transmitters situated on Exuma and Grand Bahama. We can’t even tap into those because we don’t have the technology. Whenever a country controls its airspace, the country must be able to provide effective communications, radar coverage, search and rescue—which the US Coast Guard currently handles.”

“Why doesn’t our government negotiate with the US and get at least $40 dollars for every $100 dollars collected from aircraft entering out airspace as opposed to getting nothing? Why don’t we employ a ‘user system’ where those who use our airspace pay?” he said.

How many Bahamians know that the airspace over Andros Island is presently under the control of Cuba?

A 2004 paper on the creation of the Bahamas Flight Information Region (FIR) noted that the Bahamas Civil Aviation Department (CAD) had proposed to install a new Nassau Area Control Centre (NACC) and associated air navigation systems in the Bahamas to permit the CAD to retake control of its airspace, in a fully coordinated manner with neighbouring countries. At that time, it was expected that implementation of the FIR would take two to three years, once it was approved by ICAO.

According to the 2004 working paper, the new FIR could create significant employment opportunities, generate revenues in excess of $30 million annually and contribute to financing the development of Family Island aerodromes.

Captain Butler also addressed the Mayaguana incident, referring to it as “unfortunate” and asserting that the government should lease certain airports to major developers (anchor resorts). He suggested that the government lease the airport in Bimini to the Bimini Bay Resort; the airport in San Salvador to Club Med; and the airport in Exuma to Sandals. He argued that the resorts would undertake all the improvements, collect landing fees, rent office space and counters, rent concession space, collect parking fees, etcetera whilst the government, as regulator, would be paid for the duration of the lease and for the presence of police, immigration and customs officers (who presumably would continue to collect government revenue).

“Imagine if one is travelling to Exuma, to the five star Four Seasons resort with the airport being a one star. It leaves a bad first and last impression and the infrastructure there doesn’t support or mirror the hotel!” Butler noted.

“Relative to Mayaguana, the government owns the airport there, not the I-Group. At the end of the day, they are the regulator. What in the world does the agreement have to do with their failure to carry out that role? Isn’t the government responsible for oversight?” he said.

Indeed, there is a scattering of airports throughout the Bahama Islands that don’t conform to aerodrome regulations and, according to Butler, there is “no properly constituted inspectorate, no sufficiently qualified folks to oversee or do certifications of aerodromes in accordance with international standards.” Mr Butler asserted that the new airport in Marsh Harbour, Abaco and the airport in Freeport, Grand Bahama do not comply with global standards. He said that the Lynden Pindling International Airport meets certain specifications due to the creation of NAD and the involvement of the Canadians in the initial construction processes.

Indeed, I have been told by several pilots that the worst airports in the Bahamas are at Colonel Hill, Crooked Island (no lights or navigational equipment, no perimeter fencing, rundown terminal); Abraham’s Bay, Mayaguana (no lights or navigational equipment, no lighting, no emergency personnel, no perimeter fencing, a garage-like derelict terminal, no fire extinguisher); Fresh Creek, Andros (no lights); and Stella Maris, Long Island. I’m told that the airport in Colonel Hill is in an even worse condition than the airport in Mayaguana. Among pilots, some airports are known more for potholes and animals running across the landing strip than anything else!

Flying into Stella Maris at night would be a dangerous exercise, especially as there are no lights and the trees are tall and overgrown. I understand that the Stella Maris airport was given to the government at a price of $1 dollar. So, when will lights be installed? When will some of the shrubbery be cut down? When will the runway be extended to allow for jets and larger aircraft to come into that airport, which is near to the major resorts—Cape Santa Maria and Stella Maris Inn? When will a new terminal be built? When will upgrades take place at the airport in Deadman’s Cay, Long Island?

When will a proper maintenance plan be implemented relative to the airports, to ensure that they are overgrown, to fix lights after storms or flooding, to ensure that they are properly stripped, etc? Frankly, if an island has two to three airports (e.g. Eleuthera), the government must prioritize and develop the central point as the international port of entry—outfitting it with immigration and customs personnel, perimeter fencing, fire and rescue, medical personnel—and bringing the other airports up to an acceptable standard but leaving them to cater to domestic flights that wish to land there. Indeed, airports nearer to resorts—the economic life blood of Family Islands—should be updated immediately.

The development of tourism on Family Islands will predominantly happen through air transport. Therefore, the government and all shareholders must draft a futuristic plan to comply with ICAO and develop local aviation.

Our governments are true reflections of us as a people and unfortunately, aviation—as with so many other facets of our society/economy—have been stunted because we operate in a patronage system where, ‘once you could work a wibe, everything cool!’

Chief Justice’s Ruling!

I’m anxiously waiting to see what happens, relative to the number houses, in the wake of the CJ’s ruling. Will Parliament, after exhaustion of all the appeals, seek to legislative remedy the situation in favour of the web shop bosses?