Latest update February 11th, 2025 2:15 PM
Jul 09, 2008 News
The head of the company responsible for the ground handling services for Delta Airlines has broken a lance with Works Minister Robeson Benn over the incident that led to the grounding of a flight out of New York for some 24 hours.
Capt Gerry Gouveia of Roraima Airways said that when Minister Benn posited that there should have been some sanction for the airline after a drunken passenger deployed the security door and the life raft, he was transferring the blame from the passenger to the airline.
Capt Gouveia described the Minister’s comments as unfortunate.
On July 4, last, Christopher Satyanand, a first class passenger on the Delta flight to Guyana from New York, deployed the safety latch aboard the aircraft because in what was said to be a drunken fit, he could not wait to use the stairway to deplane.
People on the ground said that the plane had already ground to a halt and people had begun to deplane when they heard a loud explosion. To say that the passengers on the stairways were startled would be an understatement, a member of the ground crew said.
The employee said that he looked up to see Satyanand at the top of the escape chute holding his attaché case and about to slide down the chute, which he did and landed on the tarmac.
“When the man came down he told the people that were around that his father is rich and that he could pay for any damage.”
The man’s father operates a gas station at Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara.
Satyanand was said to have boarded the aircraft with alcohol purchased from a duty free shop in the John F. Kennedy International Airport. In the first class cabin, he was served with a customary round of drinks.
Capt Gouveia said that under such conditions whenever the air hostesses serve drinks, people with their own supplies would drink as much as five times what is served.
Asked about the likelihood of the air hostess not paying enough attention to the passenger whom they had to know was under the influence, Capt Gouveia said that there might have been a clash of cultures and that the air hostesses would have preferred to avoid an incident with the passenger.
He added that the airline is likely to react by banning Satyanand for life, as other airlines, including Zoom, have had to do to some Guyanese from time to time.
Capt Gouveia said that Satyanand’s behaviour cost the airline a lot of money.
Delta was required to fly in another airline from Texas, execute repairs to the blown escape chute and accommodate the outgoing passengers for more than 24 hours at hotels in the city.
Efforts to reach Satyanand proved futile. No one at the home was accepting telephone calls.
Feb 11, 2025
Kaieteur Sports–Guyanese squash players delivered standout performances at the 2025 BCQS International Masters Tournament, held at the Georgetown Club, with Jason-Ray Khalil, Regan Pollard, and...Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News-If you had asked me ten years ago what I wanted for Guyana, I would have said a few things:... more
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]