“The Eagle has Landed” is perhaps the second time that the phrase has been used. The first was when Astronaut Neil Armstrong touched down the NASA spacecraft on the surface of the moon in the early 1960s after some anxiety.

The American Eagle’s Super ATR72

The second time was on Wednesday this week when the American Eagle ATR72 Super aircraft landed at Wallblake Airport on a test flight after an agonizing wait by the public following the completion of the runway in December.

The test flight and the three-hour flying over the approach path of the airstrip that followed were preludes to the actual passenger service which the airline personnel said would take place shortly thereafter, once the runway was certified by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).

The 64-passenger aircraft was flown to Anguilla from San Juan by Captains Angel Torres who has been with the airline for 18 years and Carlos De La Quardia who has 10 years flying experience. The two senior pilots are also Check Instructors for airmen.

“The new runway is very nice. We had a smooth landing and did not have to put in the reverse,” said Captain Torres. His colleague, Captain De La Quardia, joined him in saying that the extension of the runway was an excellent job and he was very impressed with how quickly the project was completed.

In Anguilla to do the major part of the work for the certification process was Blair Bertram, a contractor with Satnav Resources in the United States. His assignment here was to carry out survey work, flight inspection design and flight certification with respect to the new runway; and use the information collected to update the charts used by pilots for navigation in and out of Wallblake Airport.

“In a nutshell we prepared updated instrument approach procedures based on the new extended runway we are inspecting today with the terrific assistance from American Eagle,” Mr. Bertram said. “They offered to make an ATR72 plane available. They have taken it off line and made it available for as long as we need it to flight check the new maps ... [and] publish them in the AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication in Trinidad) so that everybody can use them. American Eagle is not charging anything for this support. We appreciate it very much.”

L-R: Captain Carlos De La Quardie, CM Osbourne Fleming, Millie Hodge and Captain Angel Torres

Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Osbourne Fleming, who toured the aircraft said: “I join with the excitement of the Anguillian community to see the American Eagle ATR72 land in Anguilla…We as Government are partners with the airline and are willing and ready to support any effort made to ensure that air traffic in Anguilla is restored and available. We feel that American Airline has done a significant job for us in the past and we look forward to continued and improved service…now that we have a bigger aircraft and a better airport.”

Mr. Fleming hoped that in time the airline would be able to build up its revenue base and passenger service so that there could be more frequent flights into Anguilla.

“Anguillians are very concerned about the fact that we will not have an American Eagle service in the mornings because they do quite a bit of business between here and Puerto Rico…We look forward to that service being put into place as soon as the numbers are up.”

Airport Project Officer Fritz Smith quoted a top American Airline official in Puerto Rico as saying that they were waiting on Denzil Jones of the Civil Aviation Authority in Antigua to answer four questions including: Is the runway finished? Are the design markings done? Are the precision approach indicators operating? He noted that all the questions could be answered in the affirmative.

Airport Manager, Remington Lake, commented that night-landing facilities should be available by the middle of the month; and the Chief Minister said that fuel should also be provided shortly.

The airline’s Regional Manager in Anguilla, Millie Hodge, said that with everybody now working aggressively and the flight inspections completed, the airline should resume its service shortly.

The three-hour navigation flight took off from the airport around noon. The two captains were accompanied by the navigational surveyor Blair Bertram, Fritz Smith and Remington Lake.

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