Local Government officials are still tight lipped about the virgin atlantic incident in saint lucia.

1.
Local officials still tight lipped about
Virgin
Terror as Virgin jet avoids disaster landing on flooded runway in dark,
storm-hit St Lucia,” is how the UK Express titled its story about the bumpy
and near disastrous landing of a Virgin flight here on Christmas Eve.
In the December 28 issue of the STAR we questioned the veracity of claims
by NEMO that a radar system in Martinique was down resulting in the lack
of forecasting of the Christmas Eve trough that wreaked havoc across the
island. That claim has since been found to be untrue based on our enquiries
with Met officials in Martinique. We also questioned whether someone was
asleep at the wheel, allowing a Virgin Atlantic Airbus to land on an already
flooded Hewannora Airport at about 7:30 pm that same day. According to
our investigations, the plane which was coming in from Tobago, landed on a
runway already filled with water, mud and debris as a result of heavy rains

2. which the island experienced that day. A nearby river had also burst its
banks bringing with it more deluge.
Pilots of the Virgin Atlantic jet we have since learnt, were reportedly given
no warning of the fact that the runway was littered with water and debris.
The result;the Airbus A330 sustained substantial damage to its landing gear
and fuselage as it touched down.
The STAR has since learnt that an investigation has now been launched to
determined exactly what happened, however both SLASPA and tourism
officials here have been mum on the matter. During a press conference last
week held by prime minister Kenny Anthony, we attempted to solicit a
statement from tourism minister Lorne Theophilus on what exactly
happened and who was liable. But before the minister could respond prime
minister Anthony rushed in; “we are not going to make a statement about
that.” “Does that mean there will be no information forthcoming about this
matter,” I persisted. “All I am saying is at this time we are not prepared to
say anything on this matter and once there are questions about liability this
becomes a very sensitive issue, “ said the prime minister. Efforts to get an
official statement from SLASPA which manages the affairs of the island’s
air and sea-ports have also been futile so too were efforts to reach the
director of tourism. However the STAR has learnt that there may be fallouts
from the Virgin mishap which could have implications for the local tourism
industry.
Since the incident, the Virgin airbus has been sitting on the tarmac at
Hewannorra in Vieux Fort since the airport does not have any hangars or
repair facilities to accommodate such aircraft.
Flight VS-98 from Tobago to Saint Lucia and then on to London Gatwick
was making its final approach to St Lucia on Christmas Eve with a short
stop-off to pick up extra passengers. It was quite a bumpy landing for the
crew and passengers. The damage the plane incurred was enough to force
Virgin to cancel the final leg of the flight to Gatwick, leaving passengers
stranded here.
The effects of the trough also saw a number of other
regional and international flights being cancelled-the airport remained closed
until Boxing Day December 26.