President of the Trinidad Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Association Michelle Palmer-Keizer has noted with great concern the incident Saturday morning regarding the Caribbean Airlines aircraft (Boeing 737-800) operating as flight # BW523, en route from Port of Spain, Trinidad to Georgetown, Guyana at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Guyana.

In a statement issued on Friday, Palmer-Keizer, on behalf of the association said she was extremely grateful that there were no fatalities onboard.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured and their families. The THRTA continues to have the highest confidence in Caribbean Airlines and we believe their safety standards have been evident in their unblemished record to date," Palmer-Keizer said.

Subsequent to this incident, the association recognised that significant pressures will be put on the airlift component of our tourism product as the entire region's airlift will now come under close scrutiny.

"As such we call on the regional governments to work quickly with the International Civil Aviation Authority to reconfirm the safety of our regional airports and of our regional airline, Caribbean Airlines," she said.

In concluding her statement, Palmer-Keizer said the association stands ready to support Caribbean Airlines in any way possible during this difficult period.

President of the Hotel and Tourism Association-Tobago Carol Ann Birchwood James said yesterday her thoughts and prayers are with those who have been injured and also those uninjured in this very traumatic incident.

"We thank God there have been no fatalities and that says a lot about our very experienced pilots. We continue to have confidence in Caribbean Airlines, both in the domestic flights and in the international flights, and we await the outcome of the investigation," Carol Ann Birchwood-James stressed.

"We are hopeful action will be taken to rectify what may have gone wrong. The travelling public between Trinidad and Tobago also needs to be reassured that all Caribbean Airlines flights are safe."

"Psychologists need to come onboard, on the national media, and speak to the national community, who have taken great pride over the years on the safety of the national airline and to reinforce the safety and the record of the airline, as many persons may have a fear to travel," Carol Ann Birchwood-James insisted.

–Elizabeth Williams