The normal flow of business at the V.C. Bird International Airport was in no way disrupted despite a vehicular crash on the exterior of the terminal building.
According to reports reaching our newsroom, a Honda SUV crashed into the terminal building shortly after 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Reports are that a visitor was driving the vehicle when it went out of control and crashed into an outside column. There were no reports of injury.
Chief Executive Officer of the Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority, Stanley Smith, told OBSERVER the accident caused no structural damage to the building.
“The lower part of a section on the exterior was forced in, but there was no structural damage to the column as well as the pipe that actually runs beside the column for drainage at a section of the terminal,” Smith said.
Efforts, to contact to contact the police for further information and to ascertain whether the driver of the vehicle will be charged were unsuccessful.
The incident did however elicit attention and comment from the highest levels of Government, the Cabinet of Ministers; to the extent that it is included in the briefing notes prepared in advance for the weekly Post-Cabinet Press Briefing due to be held this morning (Thursday) at the media conference room in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.
The notes, disseminated by the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Lionel “Max” Hurst, says the Cabinet “was informed of the automobile which crashed into the air terminal at V.C. Bird International Airport, damaging another car, a barrier, a sign, and the cladding of the lower column adjacent to No. 7 sliding door.
“Although no-one was hurt, the passengers in the car that was hit were terribly frightened. A pregnant passenger had to be transported to the MSJMC.
“The accident occurred shortly after 9:00 am.
“The Cabinet discussed the possibility of installing safety barriers along the sidewalk of the terminal. “An architect will be asked to develop an aesthetically-pleasing plan.”