By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News |
ARTHUR CHUNG CONFERENCE CENTRE, LILIENDAAL — A strategic plan by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to forward-deploy an aircraft directly onto the Essequibo Coast to coordinate search operations for the capsized MV Barima had to be abruptly abandoned because neither of the region’s operational airstrips possessed night runway lighting, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry heard on Monday.
Testifying before the five-member commission, Major Loyden Layne of the GDF Air Corps revealed that the infrastructural void at both the Anna Regina and Hampton Court aerodromes forced military planners to scrap the coastal staging operation entirely.
Instead, military aviators were forced to pivot their mission profile mid-deployment, dispatching an unpressurized, twin-engine GDF Britten-Norman Islander aircraft directly into pitch-black oceanic airspace at dangerously low altitudes without specialized night-search equipment or heavy illumination gear.
The Abandoned Strategy: Darkness Shuts Down Essequibo Strips
Major Layne testified that the military’s emergency response was initiated in the pre-dawn hours immediately following the vessel’s capsize:
- Urgent Midnight Call: Shortly after 1:00 AM on July 19, 2026, Layne received an urgent directive from his Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Jocelyn Hosanah, alerting him that a major maritime emergency was unfolding off Region One and ordering immediate air support.
- The Initial Plan: Flight leadership originally intended to fly a reconnaissance crew from Eugene F. Correia International Airport at Ogle directly to the Essequibo Coast, landing at either the Anna Regina or Hampton Court airstrips. Staging closer to the disaster zone would have allowed shorter turnaround times, rapid refueling cycles, and localized emergency coordination.
- The Infrastructure Roadblock: The plan collapsed when pilots confirmed that neither runway was equipped with functional runway edge lights or low-visibility navigational aids, making a nighttime landing in “Cinderella County” extraordinarily hazardous.
“I told him that it was unadvisable… and I told him the same thing,” Major Layne testified, recounting his warning to Lt. Col. Hosanah regarding the severe flight-safety risks of landing on unlit airstrips.
Low-Altitude Sortie: Flying Blind at 500 Feet
With ground staging ruled out, the GDF revised its operational orders, routing an Islander aircraft straight offshore over the Atlantic Ocean:
- Operating Below Ceiling: Operating in zero-moonlight conditions, Major Layne and his co-pilot descended to approximately 500 feet above the water, navigating blind over the open ocean.
- Lack of Specialized Search Gear: The GDF aircraft was not equipped with high-intensity searchlights, thermal imaging sensors, or forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras. The pilots were forced to conduct visual reconnaissance relying exclusively on their naked eyes through cockpit windows.
- Spotting the Red Beacon: Peering through the blackness, the flight crew eventually pinpointed a steady red light blinking from the water off the Essequibo coastline.
- Relaying Coordinates: Layne calculated the bearing and radial distance from Hampton Court, marking the geographic coordinates and transmitting them to search-and-rescue mission controllers to guide surface vessels.
“I was over the red light… it was pitch black,” Layne recalled, describing the disorienting, high-risk conditions of circling an unlit ocean at 500 feet.
Structural Deficits Under Judicial Scrutiny
Major Layne’s disclosures before the Commission of Inquiry place intense scrutiny on Guyana’s aerodrome infrastructure and military search-and-rescue readiness:
- Regional Airport Vulnerabilities: Despite the Essequibo Coast serving as the primary launchpad and logistical hub for maritime corridors into the North West District and Venezuela, its commercial airstrips remain incapable of handling routine 24-hour medical evacuations or emergency night landings.
- Search-and-Rescue Shortfalls: The testimony complements earlier evidence from civilian pilots and military helicopter crews, illustrating that Guyana’s primary aerial search assets were forced to operate without thermal night-vision sensors, onboard rescue illumination, or lit secondary diversion airfields during the country’s worst modern maritime disaster.
The Commission of Inquiry continues its evidentiary hearings at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, cross-referencing flight manifests, military coordination logs, and civil aviation safety audits.
