In the airline industry, innovation and creativity are enablers that push the envelope within defined safety parameters to solve problems in non-traditional ways.
Jumpstarting a jet aircraft was unheard of in BWIA until an incident in Tobago when a McDonald Douglas DC9-51 aircraft was stuck in Tobago over the Carnival weekend in February 1982.
After the pilots’ strike in February 1978, Parliament established the TT (BWIA International) Airways Corporation through Act 50 of 1978. This new entity consolidated the international operations of BWIA Airways Ltd and the domestic operations of TT Air Services Ltd (TTAS).
TTAS operated seven Hawker Siddeley HS748 Avro aircraft on the domestic airbridge. BWIA operated international routes to the Caribbean, North America and London using the Boeing 707 aircraft.
The government decided to re-fleet the new airline with modern aircraft. The Boeing 707s were phased out and replaced by four new long-range Lockheed L1011-500 aircraft for North America and Europe.
Four new McDonald Douglas DC9-51 aircraft and one DC9-34CF convertible freighter were acquired to operate the Inter-Caribbean routes, including Jamaica and Miami.
The Boeing 707 aircraft engines, like all jet engines, had pneumatic starters that required high-pressure air from ground support equipment (GSE) to start. The HS 748 used 24V DC for its electrical starters.
[caption id="attachment_1076400" align="aligncenter" width="270"] HS748 Avro on the tarmac at the Old Crown Point Terminal.Photo courtesy AATT -[/caption]
However, the L1011-500 and the DC9 aircraft were manufactured with integral auxiliary power units (APUs). The APU engines produced electrical power and high-pressure air for starting the aircraft engines and for air conditioning.
People travelled between Trinidad and Tobago using the inter-island ferry or the HS748 Avro aircraft. During long weekends, the higher-capacity DC9 aircraft was used to supplement the HS748 Avro operations.
During the Carnival weekend of February 1978, both inter-island ferries, the MV Tobago and the MF Gelting, were out of service owing to maintenance issues. This significantly increased the domestic airbridge demand.
On February 19, Carnival Friday, a DC9 aircraft landed shortly after midday at Crown Point Airport (now ANR Robinson). The aircraft taxied onto the tarmac, which, because of its size, could only accommodate one aircraft at a time.
In trying to start the aircraft engines for the return flight, the APU turbine fragmented and the start was aborted. Subsequent attempts to restart the APU failed.
There was no GSE in Tobago to provide high-pressure air to start the engines. This required bringing an air start unit from Trinidad by ferry. The first available sailing was the MF Gelting, estimated to be operational by 10 am on Ash Wednesday.
Matters became further complicated because there was no available tow tug or other equipment in Tobago to move the aircraft off the tarmac to facilitate the arrival and departure of other aircraft.
Arriving
