Air traffic controller fired

More than a year after a plane disappeared on a flight to St. Vincent from neighbouring Grenadines, with two persons on board, the air traffic controller on duty at the time has been fired.



An investigation by the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority has concluded that the duty air traffic controller, Joseph Da Silva, abandoned his work station at the time communication with the plane was lost.



The authorities have also fined Malakia Jones, a cadet who was working with Da Silva at the time of the incident $1,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars.



On November 19, 2006, the small SVG Air plane, piloted by Dominic Gonsalves, left Canouan for what was to be a 20-minute flight to the mainland.



But the plane, the pilot and the lone passenger, Rasheed Ibrahim, disappeared without a trace.