Despite Monday’s crash of a Chalk’s Ocean Airways plane off Miami, airline officials said on Tuesday that demand for the service remains high this holiday season.
However, Chalk’s has temporarily suspended all flights between Paradise Island, Bimini and Fort Lauderdale.
“We have cancelled our services between now and perhaps Thursday. We are contemplating resuming all of our services starting this Friday, which would probably just be direct flights between Paradise Island and Fort Lauderdale,” said station manager, Indira Wright.
“Our service between Fort Lauderdale and Bimini is still our stronghold, more so because it’s a shorter flight.”
Ms Wright had hoped regularly scheduled flights between Bimini and Fort Lauderdale could resume sometime Tuesday, but that did not happen.
According to an airline official, one Chalk’s aircraft left Fort Lauderdale around 2pm on Tuesday to pick up passengers at Musha Cay in the Exumas.
The executive said the aircraft brought passengers to Paradise Island from Fort Lauderdale “since it made no sense to travel with an empty plane.” The plane then reportedly traveled on to Musha Cay.
“We have a very high demand, special requests believe it or not, even after yesterday (Monday), from Biminites wanting to fly to and fro on Chalk’s Ocean Airways,” Ms Wright said.
“That should tell you how much they support us and so we are going to try and schedule at least one or two flights for just them.”
Prior to Monday’s crash, Chalk’s had three aircraft. Now it is down to two twin engine Grumman Mallard.
The plane is an amphibious aircraft, a special seaplane that Ms Wright said is rare.
The Grumman can seat 17 passengers. The airline would normally make between two to three flights a day between Bimini and Fort Lauderdale, since Chalk’s does not fly at night.
During the holiday season the number of flights increases to coincide with the demand for special charter flights.
However, that demand was not evident on Tuesday around 11am. The waiting room of the Paradise Island office was virtually empty.
While U.S. investigators slowly tried to hoist the mangled wreckage of the Chalk’s plane out of waters off Miami Tuesday, airline executives on Paradise Island fielded calls from government officials, the media and their passengers.
As investigators focus on the airline’s operations, weather, air traffic control and the craft’s maintenance records, Chalk’s officials said the airline still stands on its once impeccable flight record.
Ms Wright said passengers know the airline is “very, very safe.”
“It’s just unfortunate what happened Monday,” she said.
The airline has reportedly been in operation since 1919 and has offered service to Bimini for the past 30 years.
By: Tosheena Robinson-Blair, The Bahama Journal
