Five days ago Sir Barry Bowen’s plane crashed in San Pedro killing the beverage magnate and his four passengers. The news tonight is that the preliminary report on the disastrous crash is in and according to investigators, Bowen lost control of the Cessna 206 aircraft. But according to Civil Aviation investigators it was a normal flight, Bowen’s fourth flight of the day, and it should have been routine since he travels the same route daily. But something went terribly wrong just miles outside of the San Pedro Airstrip. The Belize Department of Civil Aviation discussed the preliminary findings at a press conference this afternoon. 7News was there.
Keith Swift Reporting,
These were the last moments captured on radar of Barry Bowen’s Cessna 206.
Rigoberto Cocom, Chief Air Traffic Control Officer
“The aircraft departed from the municipal airstrip enroute to San
Pedro. At the presence he is cruising at 3,500 feet and he is just crossed Chicken Caye. The radar track shows him on a direct track to San Pedro.”
The radar tracked the plane to 5 miles outside the San Pedro Airport when it disappeared.
Rigoberto Cocom,
“He is approaching the coastline to San Pedro at 900, 800, 700 and that is the area where he disappeared. Normally that is the norm when aircrafts are descending into San Pedro.”
Gilberto Torres, Department of Civil Aviation
“It was a normal flight and at no time did the pilot radio any kind of emergency calls so to speak. So it was a normal flight as far as what we can see until the accident happened.”
And while he didn’t radio for help, the Civil Aviation investigators say there is evidence that Bowen attempted to re-ascend.
Brian Dominguez, Lead Investigator
“We believe the aircraft was in a relatively lower altitude that it
should have been. We’ve seen the evidence that he attempted to recover.”
Keith Swift,
“On the radar it shows that he was at 700 feet before it disappeared off the radar. What altitude should he have been at in that area?”
Jose Contreras, Director – Department of Civil Aviation
“As I mentioned in my report, 700 feet is a normal altitude where the aircraft tends to disappear from radar because of the range. But when you are on final approach to land on a runway, you are always descending.”
Alfonso Noble, The Guardian Newspaper
“The air where he was at, should he have been at 700 feet?”
Jose Contreras,
“Well he was descending at that altitude, he was on final approach.”
Shawn Young, Flight Operations – BDCA
“It is impossible for us to tell you that he should have been at 700 at that point. All we can say is that it was a fair amount of distance, more than 500 feet, below what he should have been. It was directly in the path of him proceeding on landing at runway 06.”
So what went wrong? Well Civil Aviation investigators aren’t sure but they say Bowen lost control of the aircraft.
Jose Contreras,
“The findings at this time are the pilot probably lost control of the aircraft due to other contributing factors which are still under investigation.”
Keith Swift,
“You said he lost control of the aircraft, can you elaborate?”
Jose Contreras,
“We mentioned that the probable cause we are looking out is that he lost control of the aircraft and there are other contributing factors why this happened. Those contributing factors are still under investigation.”
Brian Dominguez,
“We are conducting a full fledge investigation, everything will be tested. Everything from fuel, the aircraft engine, everything will be tested.”
And as part of that investigation, technicians from Rolls Royce and Cessna are in the country and will piece together the parts of the aircraft. The investigation is expected to take at least 12 months.
As mentioned at the top, Bowen flew three previous flights on Friday. He had a total of 5,705 hours of total flight time. He began flying in 1967 and got his airman’s certificate in 1976. He had a valid pilot license which was due to expire in October. As part of the requirements for his license, Bowen annually underwent a medical examination. His last examination was in October of 2009 and he was deemed fit to fly.
In related news, the bodies of Michael Casey, his wife Jillian Casey, their 2 and a half year old daughter MaKayla, and 5 month old son Bryce were flown back to Albany New York today for burial. A memorial service was held in their honour today in Gallon Jug.
