A Carenage couple whose house was partially demolished by high winds from a low flying helicopter on Thursday night is expected to receive compensation following a visit from a representative of the Member of Parliament for the area, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
The man, Krishna Salick, visited the Western Main Road, Carenage, home yesterday and assessed the damage done on behalf of Dr Rowley, in his capacity as MP for the area. Salick spoke with three homeowners who claimed they suffered some sort of damages.
At the couple’s home which was being constructed following a fire two years ago, Marsha Maynard spoke of how parts of her home came crumbling when the helicopter hovered close to her home, ripping off galvanized roofs and ripping electric gates off their hinges.
Maynard told the T&T Guardian she was at her home washing when she heard the noise from the helicopter blades. Sometime later she heard a cracking sound and saw at least six rows of clay bricks coming down towards her. The woman said she and her husband had to jostle to get through a three-foot wide doorway to escape being crushed.
Maynard said she had no qualms with the helicopter doing whatever it was doing but was disappointed that while roofs were being blown off, instead of gaining altitude the helicopter kept hovering, causing more damage. Maynard said the helicopter was taking picture of a nearby oil spill but this was not confirmed.
Other residents who did not want to be identified said they all came together to nail sheets of galvanise back on the roof of a family, who had a new-born baby at home when the incident happened. Defence Force officials up to late yesterday were seeking to determine whether the helicopter belonged to the National Security Ministry.
Sources within the Defence Force told the T&T Guardian on Thursday that the helicopter was not part of the Defence Force arsenal.