No sign of missing two – debris found

DAY 3

Tuesday, November 21

Hope that Rasheed Ibrahim and Dominic Gonsalves may still be alive is diminishing as the third day of search for the missing Areo Commander 500 plane continues.

Director of Airports, Corsel Robertson said that they are conducting interviews and are gathering documentation for the investigation into missing plane. She also announced that Paul Delisle and Collins Anthony, two officers from the East Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority would be here tomorrow. {{more}}

Robertson said that the aircraft is believed to have crashed.

Commander Tyrone James of the Coast Guard confirmed that a seat, seat rests, an unused flare kit, an uninflated life raft, a wooden chock with the markings “SVG Air” and other small items have been found about two miles north-west of Bequia. There has been no sign of the aircraft.

The National Emergency Management Organisation was providing counseling and support.

The initial search for the aircraft began between Mustique and Bequia, but later that night the search was changed to area from Bequia to St Vincent. So far Mustique Airways, SVG Air, the RSS aircraft and an aircraft from Martinique and two helicopters, one from Trinidad and one from Venezuela are involved in the search.

Chief Pilot with SVG Air, Everett Best, said that the staff at SVG Air is missing their colleague Dominic Gonsalves. He described the pilot who has 26 years experience as a great easygoing guy.

Gonsalves who was in his 40’s lived at Upper Villa with his wife and 11-year-old daughter. His 16-year-old son flew in today from school in Canada.

Of Gonsalves’ 26 years as a pilot, he had been with the company for 10 years.

“The SVG Air family is grieving ad we are all trying to accept what has happened. To see one of our own who would always walk around and talk with us suddenly gone is not easy, we will miss Dominic,” he said.