The Tribune

By Morgan Adderley

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

THE investigation into the North Andros plane crash could take up to a year to complete, Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said yesterday.

And while the forensic team has treated this matter as a “priority”, Health Minister Duane Sands said he could not say how much longer it will take for the victims’ to be identified through DNA.

On January 17, a Piper Aztec plane flown by Darren Clarke, 45, was flying from North Andros to Nassau when it crashed shortly after takeoff. All six people aboard were killed in the accident.

In interviews with the Tribune last weekend, relatives of the victims criticized the way the investigation has been handled as well as the repeated delays in DNA testing.

These delays have prevented them from obtaining death certificates, receiving remains and getting closure.

When asked by reporters if he could provide information on the status of the investigation, Mr D’Aguilar said he would have to “consult”, noting “these things take time”.

“I spoke to the Air Accident and Investigation Department and they told me that the investigation was on-going,” he said.

“They have to wait for the insurance company in the States that’s looking at the wreckage to finish their study and to produce a report and all these things take time.

“And I think that they’re waiting for that process to be done. Typically they say the maximum period —this is what they informed me, this is what I’m advised— the maximum period these investigations can go on for is one year.”

“So, within one year, this investigation will come to a close. But I think that they’re still waiting for reports that they have no control over to be completed.

Air Accident Investigation Department’s Chief Accident Investigator Delvin Major confirmed Mr D’Aguilar’s remarks. He added that investigations can actually take “forever”, but investigators try to complete them within a year.

However, Mr Major said the investigation into the plane crash could be completed as early as the end of July.

“I just received the last report that I was waiting for just last week,” he said.

“I’m actually in the process right now of adding that…to my report, so by week’s end I will have the draft report completed which I will have to send to the participants…those who assisted us with the analysis. They have to review the report before it becomes final.”

Mr Major said they then have a 60-day window starting from the day he sends the report to submit any changes or edits to him that are needed.

“If there’s any corrections I would make those corrections and then thereafter the report would be available for release,” he added.

If no response is sent within 60 days, his draft report becomes the final report.

“I would say by latest, end of July, but it can be sooner if they respond back to me say within 30 days,” he said.

Vandeka Stuart and Kermit Adderley, relatives of three of the victims, spoke with the Tribune over the weekend on the impact the accident and its aftermath have had on their families.

They both pleaded with government officials to speed up the process of DNA analysis so they can bury their loved ones.

Despite providing DNA samples to help identify their relatives within the first week of the accident, neither relative has received an update since then.

When they inquire about the delay, the family is simply told that there “are people who are ahead of [them] that’s also waiting on DNA results”, Ms Stuart said.

Mr Major made it clear the release of DNA results are separate from his investigation.

“One has nothing to do with the other. What happened is the remains that were found were sent for DNA analysis. That really has nothing to do with us or our investigation. That’s something completely aside,” he said.

When asked about the delay in the DNA results, Dr Sands told the Tribune that a perceived delay is a “function of expectation”.

“Without revealing a whole lot of the specifics, this was a phenomenal forensic challenge to identify remains of multiple different victims, given what was left,” he said.

“I guess it is the perception of ‘long’ is really a function of expectation, given the challenge of the forensic activity required to go through the remains,” he said.

“To the family, I think it’s important to understand that the medical team in charge of this process are very, very sensitive to the human concerns of this event and are working diligently to get the matter resolved.”

“But an arbitrary expectation of an upper limit of time really doesn’t apply. However long it takes to get this matter resolved definitively and appropriately is how long it’ll take. “

While acknowledging the “phenomenal sensitivity” of the matter, Dr Sands commended the forensic pathology team for moving the process along “with phenomenal efficiency”.

“We understand grieving, we understand the wish for closure. And I suspect that obviously in due course most if not all of the family members should be able to get that closure.”

Dr Sands dismissed the idea that any perceived backlog was affecting the forensic evaluation of this case.

“I think the most important think is that the families should know that…the pathologists have dealt with this matter as a priority and they have applied all of their professional skill and the skill of their supporting laboratories to get the forensic activity completed. And I think they should be commended for the effort to date.”

The Health Minister added as soon as the forensic pathologist is satisfied with the analysis, matters surrounding the death certificates will be resolved.