Recent Posts
February 9, 2026
February 9, 2026
February 9, 2026
The report into a December 2023 helicopter crash that claimed the lives of five Guyana Defence Force (GDF) officers will not be released to the public, Public Utilities and Aviation Minister Deodat Indar told the National Assembly on Thursday.
Indar said the findings could not be made public because the Bell 412 helicopter was engaged in an official military exercise at the time of the crash, which occurred in a densely forested area in the country’s interior.
He was responding during budget debates to opposition lawmaker Amanza Walton-Desir, a former counsel for the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, who accused the administration of breaching the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Chicago Convention by failing to release the report.
Walton-Desir said Article 13 of the convention requires countries to publish final aircraft accident reports within 12 months, or to issue an interim statement if that deadline cannot be met.
Indar rejected the claim, telling the House that the flight was a military operation and not subject to the convention’s disclosure requirements.
“The flight operation at the time when it happened was a military operation… It was not a civilian flight,” he said.
He noted that Annex 13 of the ICAO Convention applies to civil aviation and excludes state aircraft, including those used for military, customs and police services, allowing sensitive operational information to remain confidential.
“The Chicago Convention places the operation in a military setting, and because of that it is a national security issue and is exempt,” Indar said.
Those who died were Lieutenant Colonel Michael Charles, Retired Brigadier Gary Beaton, Colonel Michael Shahoud, Lieutenant Colonel Sean Welcome and Staff Sergeant Jason Khan.
The helicopter went down about 30 miles from Arau in Region Seven, near the border with Venezuela.
