Parking error delays LIAT flight at E. T. Joshua

Passengers aboard a LIAT flight bound for Barbados were hopping mad last Tuesday.{{more}}

This, when they realized that their flight, scheduled to leave at 12:30pm (Li 332), was delayed by some 45 minutes, because of a parking mix up at the ET Joshua airport.

Passengers were considering themselves lucky as they boarded the flight on time and got ready for take off – only to be asked to disembark.

Information is that an Amerijet aircraft was blocking the exit of the plane from the apron on to the runway.

The only way, SEARCHLIGHT was told, that the LIAT aircraft could have left was to reverse, something that LIAT’s local manager Dominique Patterson said is against the airline’s policy.

“We are not allowed to reverse at ET Joshua airport,” Patterson said.

He said that’s all he was willing to say on the matter.

Deputy Director of Airports Joel Jack, however, said that the mix up was unfortunate.

He told SEARCHLIGHT that if LIAT had communicated with the control tower and indicated that where they were assigned to park would not have been appropriate, something else could have been arranged.

When the LIAT flight arrived at the E.T. Joshua airport, the Amerijet plane was already in position.

Jack said that the only other option would have been to get Amerijet to start up and shift, but this was not practical in the circumstances.

“If it was an emergency, then a lot of fuel is used to start up a jet,” Jack said.

He used the opportunity to give a plug for the Argyle International airport.

He said that the current airport sometimes makes parking very difficult during a busy period.