Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar and Guyana's Aviation Minister visit the crashed aircraft

Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has arrived in Guyana less than 24 hours after a plane from her country's national carrier, Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL), ran off the runway at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and snapped in two with some 157 persons on board.

The PM is accompanied by a high-level team said to include her Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Transport and Commerce.

Upon arrival, Persad-Bissessar and her team were taken to the wreckage of the aircraft acompanied by Guyana's Transport Minister Robeson Benn, Foreign Affiars Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and CAL officials.

The officials subsequently went into a close-door briefing after which  PM Persad-Bissessar spoke with reporters briefly.

She said she was stunned by what she saw and added that the incident will no doubt have an impact on the ariline and the tourism industry.

"I was stunned by what I saw and to know that there were no casualties, that there was no fire, that there was no explosion so, again, I say thank God for all his mercies," she told a news briefing at the CJIA.

Damage control, she added, would have to be done because of the obvious impact the accident would have on the Caribbean's largely tourism-dependent economies. 

"It would not just be Caribbean Airlines, it may affect tourism visitors too to the Caricom nations and to the areas that Caribbean Airlines serves. We would have to assess that impact and, therefore, do such damage control as we can," she added.

Both the PM and CAL officials expressed hope that the insurers would cover the cost of the US$38M aircraft which the airline bought in 2007.

This is Persad-Bissessar's first visit to Guyana since becoming PM last year and she expressed regret that  the visit could not have been under better circumstances. "Whilst I am pleased to be here, I am not happy to be here because of the circumstances in which I have come," she said.

The Prime Minister, who said she came to Guyana because her country owns the airline and is a Caricom partner, is expected to depart Guyana on Sunday.

The investigators from the United States National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing aircraft manufacturers, she said, would determine whether it was pilot error or aircraft malfunction with the Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The Trinidad and Tobago leader expects a report very soon to assist in avoiding future incidents.