March deadline for Flight 331 report
Published:Friday | January 3, 2014 | 12:00 AM
"We are being absolutely careful to present a credible report. Jamaica could lose its credibility if this is not done."
This was the assurance given to the Jamaican public by the then director general of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) Lt Col Oscar Derby, as the public anxiously awaited a report into what caused American Airlines Flight 331 to overshoot the runway at the Norman Manley International Airport on December 22, 2009, coming to a stop in three pieces on the Palisadoes shoreline.
Derby and the JCAA had promised at the time of the accident that a final report would have been completed by March 2010.
Yet, four years later, the public still has not been definitively told the reason for the accident.
Derby has since resigned, and in August last year, took office as director of the Curaçao Civil Aviation Authority.
The JCAA has now indicated that "the editing and formatting of the highly technical and lengthy final report is nearing completion and the document will be sent for final review by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) by the end of the second week in January, 2014".
HOPEFUL FOR 2014 RELEASE
The authority said it remained hopeful that a final report could be released within the coming year.
"Barring unforeseen challenges, it is anticipated that the final report will be released to all stakeholders and the public by the end of March, 2014," the JCAA said in a statement to The Gleaner.
In its statement, the JCAA stressed that the completion of the investigation was not only dependent on the work of its staff.
"It is important to note that the current investigation has been impacted by intense, but beneficial, involvement from a foreign jurisdiction and external agencies, each with varying protocols, processes and interests," the authority said.
"While Jamaica exercises responsibility for overseeing and leading the investigation, the aircraft was designed, built, operated and crewed by United States interests. This has necessitated continuous, but highly beneficial and useful collaboration, at all stages of the investigation process, with the NTSB, the independent US-accredited government agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigations."
In December 2011, the NTSB issued its "safety recommend-ations" with regards to the accident.
That report detailed that the air traffic controllers at the airport had advised the AA331 flight crew that it might be necessary for the aircraft to "circle to land on runway 30 due to an indicated (tail)wind from 320 degrees at 10 knots".
This advice was however not followed.