Former JALPA president speaks out on AA crash in Jamaica

Wesley Sampson, a former president of the Jamaica Airline Pilots Association (JALPA) has sent an open letter to both Spirit and American Airlines advising of the high potential for disaster, and requested that they exercise extreme care when dispatching flights into Jamaica in marginal weather and not use Jamaican airports as alternates under any circumstances until the NTSB report is final.

Wesley Sampson and his organization, Mayday Air Jamaica (http://www.maydayairjamaica.com) had earlier month on Nov 19 09, in an open letter to Spirit re; their bid to purchase Air Jamaica, had expressed grave concerns over the safety of the international travelling public into Jamaica, and the callous attitude of the Jamaican authorities in this regard.

“We note where the FAA had previously downgraded the islands airports, which status although reinstated remains questionable, where emergency equipment and facilities are concerned, as this accident shows. It is not reasonable to assume or expect that two experienced American Airlines pilots, trained to the highest standards of aviation safety, simply flew into Jamaica and crashed landed in routine operations” said Sampson

Mayday Air Jamaica, strongly advises the travelling public not to use foreign carriers in inclement weather conditions, to await the findings of the NTSB and the supervised implementation by the Jamaican government of the recommended corrective procedures.