On the sixth November 2025, the residents of a small Indigenous group in Guyana’s South Rupununi seemed up from their errands to see a Cessna Grand Caravan touchdown on the street bside their brand-new secondary college.
The Caravan, registered in Guyana as 8R-THR and operated by Air Providers Restricted, had departed usually from Eugene F. Correia Worldwide Airport (close to Georgetown, Guyana) for a flight to Lumid Pau Airport. The pilot was a Brazilian nationwide; his expertise within the native space shouldn’t be but clear. The passengers had been authorities officers who had been being flown to an inspection website. The routing was troublesome: stories declare that the pilot was utilizing a mix of GPS, verbal instructions and a folded paper map. As they entered the ultimate strategy for Lumid Pau airport, a freshly graded street resulting in the brand new college got here into view, trying broad and degree. The pilot mistook this for the airport runway.
Distant strips in Guyana fluctuate broadly in look and state of upkeep. On this case, the newly graded street seemed far more like a runway than the precise runway. Nonetheless, they had been nonetheless a kilometre away from the airport.
The pilot, presumably not new to bush flying, landed safely and got here to a halt subsequent to the Lumidpau major college. The passengers disembarked with out difficulty. This in all probability would have been a minor native information story and a little bit embarrassing.
Nonetheless, the pilot, presumably eager to reposition to the precise airport, determined that the perfect plan of action, having landed on the street, was to easily take off once more.
Now it’s a truism in aviation that you could land on any runway that you could take off from. However the reverse shouldn’t be true and past that, a dust street shouldn’t be a runway. It has no declared size, no impediment survey, no floor inspection. An plane’s take-off efficiency tables assume a ready floor.
This video was posted to r/aviation with out attribution:
Within the video, the plane accelerates alongside the grime street. The nostril lifts quickly and the Caravan flies unsteadily in direction of the college’s perimeter fence. The dearth of clearance shouldn’t be a query of perspective: one wheel may be seen to clip the highest of the fence. The plane goes right into a shallow climb and the video ends. The airplane landed safely at an precise airport with Starbroek Information reporting injury to the fence and potential to the plane’s wing tip.
When the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) noticed the footage, they moved instantly. The plane was grounded. The pilot was suspended. Air Providers Restricted obtained written discover {that a} formal investigation was underway.
Stabroek Information quotes the Director Basic as describing the pilot’s actions as “reckless and unprofessional”. The investigation will look into the pilot’s flight historical past and expertise, particularly native expertise. They can even look at whether or not the GPS was functioning and whether or not the pilot had present briefing supplies.
