The Civil Aviation Authority of the Bahamas has given Flamingo Air (Freeport International) the go-ahead to resume flights after grounding the airline last week over an incident where a boarding ladder deployed mid-flight, reports Eyewitness News.
The incident happened on October 2 during an early morning Flamingo Air flight from Nassau International to Staniel Cay. A video posted on social media showed the boarding ladder dangling from the open door of the aircraft, reported to have been a Beech 99, C6-MMK (msn U-98).
The airline apologised in a statement afterwards. It described the incident as a "minor issue" that was nevertheless taken seriously, adding it was "shocked as everyone else when we saw that video of one of our aircraft's boarding ladders being deployed while in flight".
It said inspections revealed that the ladder had not been properly latched. "This, combined with the turbulence that all planes endure during flight, led to the ladder becoming detached." It claimed that none of the 14 passengers on board had been in danger.
The individual responsible for the "mishap" had been reprimanded, and the airline was introducing refresher courses for its employees.
Apart from the Beech 99, the airline's fleet comprises one Beech 99A, one Beech 99B, one Beech 99C, and one DHC-6-200, according to the ch-aviation fleets module.
