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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -Finance Minister Colm Imbert Tuesday said that fuel supply to the left of a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) on Monday night forced the airline to make an emergency landing at the Piarco International Airport after passengers were instructed to assume the crash position after the pilot had declared an emergency.
Imbert, responding to a question in the Senate from Opposition Chief Whip, Wade Mark, aid 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.
He told legislators that the plane has 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.
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) had “declared an emergency landing” but arrived safely at the Piarco Internatinal 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 were onboard.
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 urboprop aircraft, the cabin crew can be heard repeatedly calling on passengers to “brace” and to keep their heads down and hands over head as the plane descended into Trinidad.
The cries of children can be heard.
