More ‘soap powder’ — this time in Canouan

By Patrick Ferrari

The handling, or the lack thereof, of the recent aviation “mishap” linked to Canouan is Canouan’s 2023 echo to Union Island’s 2012 soap powder fiasco. One was deception by submission, the other is deception by omission. Tell them anything/tell them nothing. Under normal circumstances, the disappearance of a jet would have dominated the news until its resolution. Not so much here, though. And those in the know, starting with the minister of “every square inch,” know why it has not.

The “missing” plane is a Grumman Gulfstream III. It has a maximum speed just shy of 600 mph, and cruises at just below 450 mph. It is asinine to suggest that the purpose of the trip was sightseeing. For a whole two hours at that. I don’t think so. Though I have to admit that at least it is in keeping with the absurdity and subterfuge of the yarn. (A sightseeing incident would go something like this: “Look, quick, there’s RG’s house.” Where, quick, show me.” “You’ve missed it. It done gone.”)

The flight plan, riddled with more holes than Swiss cheese, does not disclose, well, anything much, really. At least nothing of what a normal flight plan does. It is shrouded in secrecy. While not on par with the Union Island’s “soap powder,” the willful silence on this incident is equivalent to proving guilty knowledge.

The absence of a flight record — on Flight Radar — suggests that the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) was intentionally turned off. If so, why? If my suspicion holds true, then the reason for the official silence becomes clear. The term “clandestine” keeps popping up in my head but it is outside my will of conscious control. A clandestine trip — ops, see what I mean, I did not even think that. I am going to cut off my fingers.

It feels surreal writing this. I begin with “the handling” but there was no handling at all. It means I am writing about something that is non-existent, which is its own surreal experience. Then, I place the word “mishap” in quotation marks as well, questioning whether it is a genuine mishap? Ditto “missing”. Is the plane, crew and passengers missing for real, too? If so, who is actively searching for the plane? And for human life? Where are they searching? Who is inquiring about loved ones? The flight plan is a whole next shady issue. Like, what part did the supervising aviation authorities, AIA, play in this filing? Man, this is a cock-and-bull story from the agents of deception. But it does not amount to a story. As they say, there is no there there, and here I am writing about it. I am drowning in surrealism.

Nah. What we have is a Gulfstream jet with human lives on board that took off from Canouan and  it goes “missing.” Or so the half-baked plot goes. After that, immediately after that, without further ado, the wire bend, and the story end with piercing silence. That accomplished, let the masses go about their business, and let us go about ours. Right!

They take we for stupidie, which is one of the consequences of a prolonged tenure in power.

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