The Air Antilles flight leaving Saint-Barthélemy this Sunday, January 19, bound for Pointe-à-Pitre, had to divert and make an emergency landing at Princess Juliana airport in the Dutch part of Saint-Martin. The crew and passengers are unhurt, they will be re-routed to their final destination.
More fear than harm for the passengers of Air Antilles flight 4 I 301 The Twin Otter DHC-6, registered HB-LUX, was forced this morning to make an emergency landing at 10:14 a.m. at Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten. Having left 19 minutes earlier from Rémy de Haenen airport in Saint-Barthélemy, the twin-engine aircraft was to reach Pointe-à-Pitre – Maryse Condé with several passengers on board.
After a few minutes of flight, the pilots detected smoke in the cockpit and immediately signaled an emergency situation by activating the Squawk code 7700. This alert, equivalent to “Mayday”, triggers an alarm on the control stations. ground radar control. The plane was therefore diverted to the nearest airport, that of Sint Maarten, where the fire trucks were waiting for it.
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©Flightradar24
The plane landed normally indicates the direction of the airline.
The passengers and crew have been taken care of and will be rerouted to Pointe-à-Pitre. A mechanic from the Zimex company is expected at Juliana Airport to check the plane.
-Samuel Braconnier, general director of Air Antilles
Chartered from ZIMEX, a Swiss airline, the Twin Otter DHC-6 is the only aircraft capable of taking off or landing over a very short distance (STOL) operated by Air Antilles. The airline was therefore forced to cancel all other flights scheduled to Saint Barthélemy.
