Cargo Flight Disappears Near Mahdia, Guyana (8R-GHE)

Incident Overview A crew consisting of a pilot and a load master was conducting a routine cargo flight to Karisparu when the aircraft departed Mahdia Airport at 1142 local time. The flight was scheduled to last less than 20 minutes, with an expected arrival at Karisparu Airfield at 1200 local time. Less than three minutes after takeoff, radio contact with the pilot was lost. The aircraft was reported to have vanished in dense jungle in Region Eight of Guyana. The Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Zulfikar Mohamed, stated that the critical 72-hour search window expired on Tuesday, December 30. Search and rescue operations were suspended on January 4, 2015, after four days of efforts yielded no trace of the aircraft or its crew.