THE EDITOR, Madam:
ON FRIDAY January 12, 2001 at one o'clock in the afternoon I was waiting for my sister and her husband who were arriving on Air Jamaica Express from Montego Bay. The plane was approaching and about to land when the pilot pulled it up again, passed low over the airport building, gained altitude again and flew away in a wide circle over Kingston.
At the same time an emergency vehicle drove across the airport towards the runway. A group of tourists, myself and security personnel watched this scene and were very worried. Nobody knew why the plane had not landed.
We watched an emergency vehicle driving over to the runway, saw a man get out and guess what he was doing. He tried to chase a big cow from the runway. He wasn't very successful but managed to keep the cow on the grass next to the runway while the plane finally landed.
If it had not been for the alertness and skills of the Air Jamaica Express pilots, I wouldn't want to imagine what would have happened. Imagine a plane colliding with a cow during landing.
I also wouldn't like to imagine if the flight had come in after dark where the cow could not have been so visible from afar. I would like to express my gratitude to those pilots and their perfect handling of the incident.
My sister told me that the passengers were worried about the aborted landing but were assured by the pilot that nothing was wrong with the plane, that there was an animal on the runway. My sister doesn't live here and could not believe that something like this could happen at an official airport.
The tourists who were waiting to board a flight to Montego Bay were worried as well and couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.
We asked persons who work at the airport whether this has ever happened before. They told us that this is not an unusual incident that even people take shortcuts across the runway. I asked how animals and people could enter that side of the airport and was told that that side of the airport is not properly fenced.
If that is in fact so, I consider this very irresponsible on the part of the relevant authorities. It is unfair to put such additional stress on.
I am etc.,
BARBARA HENRIQUES
10 Manor Park Dr.
Kingston 8
