ST. THOMAS — The Cyril E. King Airport was temporarily closed at 5:36 a.m. today due to an aircraft accident, the Virgin Islands Port Authority has announced. A privately-owned airplane destined for St. Croix skidded off the airport’s taxiway into a grassy area adjacent to Runway 10-28 while taxiing for departure. The incident was apparently caused by mechanical failure. The plane’s pilot was uninjured and there were no passengers on board at the time of the incident. The six-seat Piper Aztec model aircraft with the tail number N269KW is a twin-piston plane registered to Executive AirShares, LLC.
VIPA said the incident occurred at approximately 2:30 a.m. The pilot notified the owner of the plane who contacted the Virgin Islands Port Authority airport operations to alert them of the accident. VIPA’s Airport Rescue Firefighters were notified and responded to the incident immediately. They were assisted by VIPA’s Port Police, airport operations staff and St. Thomas Jet Center – a Fix Based Operator at CEKA that provides services for private planes.
The aircraft was towed to a secure location on the northern ramp at CEKA.
The airport was reopened at 8:20 a.m., said VIPA’s Airport Manager Jerome Sheridan. He added that the incident has been reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and will be further investigated by the FAA’s Flight Standards District Office.
The incident did cause some flight delays. Sheridan said that a cargo plane scheduled to arrive in St. Thomas this morning was temporarily diverted to the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix. Cape Air, JetBlue and a private flight were also delayed due to the temporary airport closure.
Share On Facebook
Tweet It
