Air Services Limited plane crashes in rough terrain

Last Updated on Friday, 10 April 2026, 23:28 by Writer

An Air Services Limited (ASL) single-engine Cessna plane crashed on Friday in thickly forested and mountainous terrain where a search party has been deployed to the crash site, officials said.

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said it responded to a missing aircraft incident involving a Cessna 208 (registration 8R-YAC), operated by Air Services Limited (ASL), on the Madhia–Imbaimadai route.

Demerara Waves Online News was told that the lone occupant was a foreign pilot who was hired by ASL. The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said at the time of the flight, the weather was extremely bad.

Officials said Guyana’s now modernised search and rescue system pinpointed the approximate location of the plane and eventually it was spotted by an ASL plane.

The GCAA said the aircraft departed Mahdia at 08:10h with one person on board and was due to arrive at 08:40h at Imbaimadai. “It failed to report arrival, prompting a flight progress check at 08:44h,” the regulatory authority said in a statement.

The Authority said search efforts led to a visual sighting of a suspected crash site, confirmed by two Trans Guyana Airways Cessna Caravans and a Britten-Norman Islander.

A Guyana Defence Force (GDF) rescue team, including special forces and medical personnel, is being dispatched to the area, the GCAA said.

The GCAA said the situation remains active and all information is preliminary pending on-site verification.

High-level sources said a GDF search and rescue team was dispatched to the area aboard a recently-acquired Bell helicopter equipped with a winch.

The GDF special forces contingent would be inserted into a location from where they would have to climb up a very steep mountain and descend on the other side before they could reach the aircraft.

“We are working against time,” the source said.