Serious Incident at the Bocas del Toro Airport Yesterday

By Teresa Loberg and Don Winner for the Panama-Guide.com - A serious and potentially lethal accident caused panic and pandemonium in the passenger waiting lounge of the Bocas del Toro airport at approximately 3:00 pm yesterday afternoon in the Republic of Panama. Three tourists who were waiting to board their flights from Bocas del Toro to Panama City were injured and taken to the local hospital by ambulance to be treated for cuts caused by flying shards of broken glass and other injuries. The propeller on the right engine of a Seneca II commercial aircraft with Panamanian registration number HP-1552RS struck a fire extinguisher as the pilot began to taxi away from his parking spot in order to depart the airfield. When the propeller struck the fire extinguisher and the cart used to move it around, metal debris was blown through the plate glass window into the waiting area of the passenger terminal, injuring the three tourists. Two tourists were cut by the flying glass and another was injured as he dove for cover as all hell broke loose in the airport terminal. (more) [tag:panama bocas_del_toro accident incident HP-1552RS]

Too Close for Comfort: The airplanes land at the airfield and then taxi right up to the side of the passenger terminal. The fire extinguisher HP-1552RS hit was probably only about 25 feet from where the passengers were the passengers were sitting, waiting for their flights. (Photo Credit: Annotated by Don Winner, Image from Google Earth)

Three Tourists Injured: Three tourists who were sitting in the passenger terminal waiting area of the Bocas del Toro airport were injured in this incident. All three were taken by ambulance to the Bocas del Toro hospital where they were treated in the emergency room for minor injuries. According to Dr. Jose Stonestreet, the emergency medical physician in the Bocas del Toro hospital who attended to their injuries, they were all treated and released before 5:00 pm and were able to board later flights to Panama City. All three persons injured were visiting tourists. The first was a woman from Finland who was cut on her arm caused by flying glass. The second was a man from Switzerland who was cut on the upper part of his left ear by flying glass. The third was a Panamanian man, born in Panama but currently living in New York, who injured his left shoulder by diving to the floor when the parts from the fire extinguisher came through the window. He was given a shot for the pain and inflammation with an order to get his left shoulder x-rayed when he got back to Panama City.

Responding Emergency Vehicles: The green truck on the right is a piece of equipment owned by the Panamanian Autoridad Aeronautica Civil" (AAC) (Civil Aviation Authority) responding to this incident. The aircraft in the forefront on the left is a Seneca II registration number HP-1552RS which struck the fire extinguisher as the pilot started to taxi away from the parking spot. According to AAC personnel who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the pilot was apparently more concerned about the aircraft parked close to his left side and he was probably looking to the left to avoid clipping his left wingtip when he hit the fire extinguisher with the propeller of his right side engine. (Photo Credit: Teresa Loberg for Panama-Guide.com)

Propeller Damage: In this closeup you can see the damage done to the propeller of the right-side engine of the Seneca II aircraft caused by hitting the fire extinguisher. Again, according to AAC personnel, "these kinds of accidents are always caused by a combination of mistakes. The pilot had to have seen the fire extinguisher when he climbed into his airplane and he should have known it was there. At the same time airport personnel should have been present to remove the safety equipment from the path of the taxiing aircraft." (Photo Credit: Teresa Loberg for Panama-Guide.com)

Safety Routine: This is a picture of the fire extinguisher and wheel chocks used by airport personnel when aircraft are coming and going to and from the airport in Bocas. I took this photo at an earlier date and does not represent the actual (exact) position of the fire extinguisher on the day it was hit by the Seneca HP-1552RS. But, I've flown into and out of Bocas several times, and this (same) fire extinguisher is almost always located in (about) the same spot. The ground crews place wheel chocks to hold the planes in place once they come to a halt (after landing) or when they are starting engines (before takeoff.) They also "cover" the airplane with this portable fire extinguisher in case of an engine fire. Once the plane is shut down they haul this equipment back to the side of the runway to wait for the next plane. (Photo Credit: Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com)

And There It Sits: I snapped this image on 2 February 2008, the last time I was in Bocas del Toro, specifically because I saw it as a potential safety hazard. I was hanging outside the door on the airfield side snapping photos of a maintenance crew that was swapping out an engine on an airplane. With regards to the fire extinguisher, I actually asked one of the security guys standing there if it should not be hauled back into the building (or at least further away from the taxi and parking area) and the guy said "yeah, probably, and as a matter of fact they are supposed to. But, they do it every day, all day long, and they get lazy and start to cut corners." Yup, sure enough. I can just about bet the farm that this (exact same) fire extinguisher was sitting somewhere very close to this exact same spot when the pilot of HP-1552RS taxied right into it.

Actually, There Were Two: This is a wider angle view from the passenger waiting area of the terminal in Bocas del Toro, and you can see two sets of fire extinguishers and chocks sitting right next to the parking area.

A View Of The Waiting Area: Not a very good one, actually. I was taking a picture of a woman in the airport who had and ocelot and accidentally captured this view over her shoulder as she played with the cat. But here you can see passengers waiting in the chairs, sitting next to the panes of glass. The airplanes taxi up to the building about 15 meters or less from the building.

Who Owns the Airplane: According to the Panamanian Public Registry, HP-1552RS is owned by "PANAMA AIRCRAFT RENTAL & SALES INC." The Panamanian Autoridad Aeronautica Civil" (AAC) (Civil Aviation Authority) tends to issue commercial registration numbers relating to the company that owns the plane. In this case the "RS" on the end of the registration number (HP-1552RS) makes sense, and probably every airplane owned and registered to this company will have the "RS" tacked onto the end of the registration number, a reflection of the "Rental and Sales" company name. The company is also reflected in the Public Registry (No. de Ficha: 384372, No. Documento: 141389) and the owners are:

• President: Carlos Gabriel Arango
  
  
• Treasurer: Maria Mirian Arias
  
  
• Secretary: Nora Echavarria
  
  
• Vice President: Luis Alberto Arango
  
  
• Names of the Directors:
  
  
  • CARLOS GABRIEL ARANGO
  • LUIS ALBERTO ARANGO
  • NORA ECHAVARRIA
  • MARIA MIRIAN ARIAS
• Names of the Subscribers:
  
  
  • KATHERINE ABREGO
  • ROBERTO JOAQUIN CONTRERAS

A Warning Shot: There are all kinds of marginal safety issues surrounding the Bocas del Toro airport. AAC personnel have gotten tired of writing letters and trying to warn their superiors of the potential dangers, particularly with regard to civilians, local inhabitants of the islands, who routinely wander across the active runway. I mean, people just cut across the runway like it's nothing. Eventually someone will get killed (and then it will be "I told you so"). In this case, maybe having your tourists sitting next to a plate glass window only 25 feet from a spinning airplane engine might not be such a great idea. Go figure, who would have been able to predict such an event. Golly, gee... Folks, remember you are solidly in the Third World when you are visiting Panama, and anything can happen. Just keep your eyes open and be prepared to dive for cover. Other than that, welcome to Paradise.

Copyright 2008 Photos and Text by Teresa Loberg and Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.