Grantley Adams International Airport - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

• On 6 October 1976, Cubana Flight 455 was bombed and crashed off the coast of Barbados in a terrorist attack by suspected CIA operatives shortly after the plane took off from Barbados. The plane had landed in Barbados, and was en route to Havana, Cuba via Kingston, Jamaica. Persons linked to the attack, and said to be hired by Luis Posada Carriles had de-planed in Barbados and made plans to fly out of the country a short time later on an alternate flight.
• On 21 March 1981 a Caribbean Airways McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30 operating a scheduled service from Barbados to London Gatwick suffered tyreburst on takeoff from GAIA, as a result of hitting an uneven patch on the runway. This caused most overhead lockers to open. Rather than returning to Barbados, the flight deck crew decided to continue to London Gatwick. Due to the flight's early arrival over the UK, ATC instructed the flight deck crew to hold for 25 minutes, following which the aircraft landed safely at Gatwick. There were no injuries among the 340 passengers. According to an airline spokesman, the hot rubber from the burst tyres had caused wiring short-circuits. These in turn had affected some flightdeck instruments.
• In 2010, during the heightened traffic frequency of the tourist season (November through April), a number of chartered airlines and regularly scheduled carriers reported a series of 'bird strikes' on takeoff. These were not serious enough to cause any damage to the aircraft and they continued on to their destinations. After brief investigations, the 'birds' turned out to be small Vesper bats, native to Barbados.