Search-and-rescue plan activated minutes after Barima distress alert – COI hears

Guyana’s Aeronautical Search and Rescue Plan (SAR), supported by round-the-clock arrangements and provisions for additional personnel, was activated minutes after the MV Barima emitted a distress alert.

Director of Air Navigation Services at the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Rickford Samaroo, outlined this in his testimony before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the MV Barima tragedy on Monday.

Samaroo returned to tender three documents the Commission requested during his earlier testimony. They include a Search and Rescue Status Incident Report, a transcript of communications between Roraima Airways Flight 401 and air traffic control, and the Aeronautical Search and Rescue Plan.

During his earlier appearance on October 15, Samaroo explained that the search-and-rescue system is manned 24 hours a day and that additional personnel can be activated depending on the nature of the emergency.

He further explained that the Area Control Centre performs rescue coordination functions under normal circumstances, while a dedicated Rescue Coordination Centre is activated during emergencies.

“In the case of an emergency, it will relocate to a separate room in the control tower, where it will take on the full responsibility of coordinating our rescue mission,” Samaroo told the Commission.

According to the records presented, the aviation Rescue Coordination Centre was activated at approximately 1:10 a.m. following the MV Barima distress alert, and a search-and-rescue mission coordinator was designated.

“The mission coordinator would assume the functions of the rescue coordination centre and then start to coordinate the activities related to it,” Samaroo explained.

He noted that the Aeronautical Search and Rescue Plan was last amended in 2024. It provides a framework for coordinating aviation search-and-rescue operations involving several agencies, including the Guyana Defence Force, Civil Defence Commission, maritime authorities and aircraft operators.

The plan also provides for regular communications and coordination exercises, along with full-scale exercises to assess operational readiness.

Samaroo confirmed that such exercises had been conducted, while commissioners requested the relevant reports for further examination. [DPI]