By Alethea Grant | HGP Nightly News |
ARTHUR CHUNG CONFERENCE CENTRE, LILIENDAAL — Aerial surveillance missions conducted by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in the wake of the MV Barima tragedy eventually led flight crews to the grim discovery of a body, floating life jackets, and an empty life raft along the Essequibo coastline, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry heard on Thursday.
Testifying before the five-member commission during Day Two’s evidentiary proceedings on October 15, 2026, senior military aviators detailed the severe operational hurdles, equipment restrictions, and visibility barriers that hindered initial overnight aerial search efforts.
The testimony also revealed that the military’s initial responder aircraft—a single-engine Bell helicopter—was legally and operationally restricted from flying directly to the vessel’s reported offshore coordinates, forcing flight crews to confine their earliest reconnaissance passes to the shoreline.
Coastal Surveillance and Discoveries: July 20 to August 2
Military aviators outlined the protracted coastal surveillance operations executed across the Essequibo coast and adjacent waters following the vessel’s capsize:
- Ten Coastal Surveillance Sorties: Lieutenant Colonel Anson Weekes testified that he conducted approximately 10 coastal surveillance flights between July 20 and August 2, 2026, as part of sustained joint operations to locate casualties and any remaining survivors swept by currents.
- Recovery of Deceased Victim: During a mission flown on July 20, Lt. Col. Weekes confirmed that aerial observers spotted and pinpointed one deceased person in the water.
- Life Jackets and Empty Raft: Follow-up reconnaissance flights flown between July 21 and August 2 spotted discarded life jackets and an unoccupied life raft drifting along coastal currents, as confirmed to commissioners by Captain Andio Crawford.
Midnight Scramble and Operational Constraints
Lt. Col. Weekes testified that his involvement began in the early morning hours immediately following the vessel’s failure to make port:
- Midnight Activation: Weekes was contacted shortly after midnight following the July 18 disaster and tasked with immediately mounting an airborne search mission.
- Mobilization at Ogle: A Bell helicopter was prepared and inspected at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport at Ogle before the flight crew departed at approximately 1:45 AM on July 19.
- Initial Routing: Flight records confirm the aircraft initially flew toward Hampton Court along the Essequibo coast to monitor shoreline areas where survivors might wash ashore.
Single-Engine Restrictions and ‘Pitch Black’ Darkness
The testimony underscored how strict aviation safety regulations and technical deficits limited the military’s airborne reach during the initial critical hours:
- Offshore Distance Restrictions: While airborne, the helicopter crew received updated coordinates locating the suspected wreckage site between 8.5 and 9 miles offshore, in the vicinity of Somerset. However, the Commission heard that the crew could not fly directly to those coordinates because the single-engine Bell helicopter was restricted under standard operating procedures from operating that far offshore over open water.
- Zero Visibility in the Atlantic: Compounding the operational limitations, Captain Crawford testified that search conditions over the water were “pitch black.”
- Ineffective Lighting: The helicopter’s onboard external illumination provided minimal assistance in piercing the dark waters, making visual detection of people or small floating objects virtually impossible from the air without specialized thermal forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensors.
The Commission of Inquiry continues its public hearings at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, auditing internal agency communications, dispatch logs, and asset readiness across maritime and aviation agencies tasked with search and rescue operations.
