Aircraft Accident Investigator Says G.O.B. Won’t Pay

When a suspected drug plane went down in the waters outside of Placencia on Labor Day weekend, a former employee of the Department of Civil Aviation was hired at a moment’s notice to assist with the investigation.   Shaun Young, whose employment contract was canceled by the Ministry of Blue Economy and Civil Aviation back in January, was contacted by a Belize Defense Force officer who sits on the Joint Intelligence Operations Command.  That is the specialized taskforce that monitors the movement of suspected drug planes through Belize’s airspace.  Young, whose extensive qualifications include investigating aircraft accidents, was contracted to provide technical assistance in ascertaining the cause of the crash.  Despite their being unable to locate the airplane’s fuselage, Young was informed that he would be contacted by the team should they require further assistance.  It was a job that was undertaken privately and, according to Young, was never put in writing, just an oral agreement, given the urgency of the investigation.  It has been almost two months since the incident occurred and an invoice forwarded to JIOC is yet to be fulfilled.  Earlier today, News Five spoke with Young who explained what happened.

Shaun Young

Shaun Young, Former Employee, Civil Aviation Dept.

“A month ago or a month and a half ago the aircraft crashed in Placencia, although that was a drug plane, it’s historic that the Department of Civil Aviation assisted because Civil Aviation investigations are only done on legal flights but you also can support the police, JIOC and those people which I had done in the past.  I had supported these people, going on scenes and giving them a synopsis of what happened, in my professional area.  So as far as that went, when I received a call from a person from the, I would say the security forces, asking to help, I don’t want to reveal the person’s name but that person asked me and I agreed because being a former member of the B.D.F., I would have wanted to help the B.D.F. in this case.  But I informed him, I told him, “Look, I no longer work for Civil Aviation, I was fired and that my services would cost.”  And I explained to him, this was my cost for the day.  He went to his superiors and he came back and said to me, “This was approved.”  So that same exact day, I was removed from my job that I have now because I took on another job in another separate area and I was removed from my job to go and assist these people.  [I] got there and I did a technical briefing with them and the next morning I went to Placencia and conducted a physical check of the wings that were found.”