GOVERNMENT neglect, combined with appointing wrong people to the Board of Solomon Airlines has begun to surface, resulting in the crash-landing of the Airlines’ Twin Otter aircraft last Friday afternoon.

No one was hurt in the accident, the first major air incident in Solomon Airlines’ safety record in the past 10 years or so. The accident happened at Suavanao Airstrip, Isabel Province at 5:15 Friday afternoon, when the aircraft went off the runway on landing.

Solomon Airlines has confirmed the accident, describing the conditions of the runway as “greasy” which caused the aircraft to run off the runway and into the mud.

It also confirmed that there were three passengers on the aircraft. None was hurt. The Airlines said the passengers were flown back to Honiara on a separate aircraft which was sent to Suavanao with two engineers and a civil aviation official early on Saturday morning.

“After it was dug out of the mud and cleaned, a full inspection was undertaken. The engineers were satisfied that the aircraft was in good condition so it was flown back to Honiara yesterday (Saturday). Further inspections were conducted in Honiara and the aircraft has since been back in the air,” the airlines said.

It is understood that Solomon Airlines’ Dash 8 aircraft is also down due to non- availability of spare parts.

One of the problems faced by the Airlines is the fact that it is without a Chief Executive Officer who is the accountable manager. The Suavanao accident happened on the day Gus Krause completed his tenure as acting CEO.

Bill Tyson, a board member, has taken over the role until such time the Airlines Board, chaired by logging executive, Austin Holmes, has secured the appointment of a new CEO for the airlines.

The Board has so far made blunders in two premature appointments it made. In the second, it signed a three-year contract with a potential CEO, Capt. Brett Gerber, before seeking clearance from civil aviation authorities both here and in Australia.

Solomon Airlines could be up for hundreds, if not millions of dollars in compensation, if civil aviation authorities found issues with the potential appointee.

Airlines experts said the problem faced by Solomon Airlines is not entirely the Board’s.

“It’s a combination of the Government’s neglect in maintaining airstrips up to standards and the appointment of Board members who know little or nothing at all about how the industry works.

“Most of the airstrips that Solomon Airlines uses have never been inspected, let alone maintain to standards. What happened at Suavanao airstrip is the first red light, warning government to do something about the deteriorating conditions of airstrips around the country.

“Ignoring this could compromise passenger safety,” one expert said.