Two air traffic controllers suspended for violation of air safety bubble between int’l flights over Guyana

Last Updated on Monday, 23 February 2026, 23:53 by Writer

Two international flights had a loss of separation – a violation of minimum safety buffer distance – over Guyana’s air space earlier this month, prompting the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to suspend two air traffic controllers from active duty, aviation minister Deodat Indar said on Sunday.

“They are supposed to have 10 miles between aircraft and something happened and that separation was breached and it became five miles between the aircraft, so we have suspended the two air traffic controllers and we have launched an investigation into why that has occurred over Guyanese airspace,” he told Demerara Waves Online News.

There was no collision or emergency landing by either aircraft.

The average speed of the aircraft is about 8 to 9 miles per minute, according to research.

The height and distance were logged at around 1 a.m. on February 16 between a United Airlines flight (UAL860) that passed through Guyana’s airspace from São Paulo, Brazil to Washington DC, United States at about 34,000 feet and a Turpial Airlines flight (VTU9905) from Guyana to Venezuela climbing to 36,000 feet, according to two open source aircraft tracking services.

Mr Indar said the GCAA and the government had been “getting a lot of kudos” for aviation management in Guyana and so he was wary about the impact of publicising this month’s occurrence.