• The Virgin Islands Daily News

• The Virgin Islands Daily News VIRGIN ISLANDS Friday, May 26, 2023 tmerican Airlines makes test flight from Miami to BVI airport y DEAN GREENAWAY wily News Staff : TORTOLA -- Days before two ineri can Airlines aircraft are expected 3, land in the British Virgin Islands, a st flight touched down Thursday at it Terrence B. Lcttsome Airport. The ERJ 175 aircraft Flight MQ9858 aerated by Envoy, departed Miami at am. and landed at 11:30 a.m. in the VI with a crew that included two cap- ins, a first officer and flight attendant. ome of the passengers on board were Se that it was a rest flight, but others id not, according to officials. "Today, they performed a test °o- ration which is basically the aircraft lade an approach, which was basi- iffy a touch and go. They saw the runway, circled and came hack to land into EIS," Edward Singh, whose Plati- num Services company, will handle cleaning and ramp services for to AA flights, told The Daily News. "It was to give the pilot an idea of where the threshold was—an idea of the runway length because the BVI basically has a small runway." Singh said the pilots landing the plane "didn't use much runway which was great and it was a gnat landing." "The test operation was also to have the pilot be aware of the surrounding areas, the runway and where they're going to be parked on the first day of operations," he added. In what will be a historic first, Amer- ican is poised to land two planes on June 1, directly from Miami. In years past BVI visitors would land in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and take a taxi to a ferry that would take them to the British is- land. BV1 Communications and Works Minister Kyc Rymer said Thursday that the test flight was an "exciting moment for the territory on a whole" "I can't neglect all the efforts from past boards, past governments and past ministers," he said. "This has always been a topic where we want to get di- rect flights, so seeing this test flight happen today, it signifies that we are achieving what we set out to achieve and we're gratefial to God first and fore- most, for blessing us to be able to get to this point today. We're excited about next week when we'll see the first flight with passengers." • According to oflicials, Thursday's test flight was important for such things as lining up the mobile staircase that passengers will disembark from, doing training on the aircraft "and getting a basic idea of whats to be done on June 1 when they have two operations in one day. "Everything ran pretty smoothly, no hiccups or problem& The aircraft parked safely, the crew got off, met with key persons in the community and other organizations. Everything went pretty weir Singh said. In preparation for the inaugural flight, Singh said employees had been training for the last month. The test flight gave the trained clean and search team an idea of how quickly they could clean the aircraft, including every sin- gle cabin and seat within a I5-minute timefrarne. Ramp personnel were also being trained on lifting up the staircase properly to ensure a safe operation, and transferring luggage, "M a great initiative by American Airlines to do the test flight today, be- cause it gives the agents who were be- ing trained from scratch and idea of what to do from day No. 1," Singh said. Rymer was on the tarmac with other officials when the flight landed, and saw the fly-by where the pilots took measures - including videos of the runway -- to understand airport infra- structure. The pilot used Runway 26, made an immediate left as a mountain is on the right, circled and returned for a safe landing. EPSTEIN ONTIN0ED FROM PAGE 3 brain student visas. "Ultimately UVI structured a espoke class to enroll victims and rovide cover for their presence in territory--the same year Epstein onated $20,000 to the university trough one of his companies," Ells- .orth wrote. Rut UVI representatives previously )Id The Daily News that the univer- ity only received a total of $17,900 iom Epstein and his companies over everal years. The year that donation was made is ot listed in Ellsworth's filing, which ites exhibits produced by the Epstein State that are sealed from public view. In 2019, The Daily News requested iformation from UVI about any do- ations received from Epstein or any of his charities and companies. UVI spokeswoman Tamika Thomas Williams provided a list of seven contributions accepted between 2003 and 2007 from "Enhanced Education, one of Mr. Epstein's organizations," totaling $17,900, including $5,000 in "annu- al giving," $3,900 for the "Upward Bound Program" and $9,000 to the annual Celebrity Golf Classic. "Mr. Epstein continued to show interest in supporting major initia- tives subsequent to his 2008 convic- tion; however, the UVI Board of Trustees decided it was in the best interest of the University to decline future gifts," Williams wrote at the time. UVI President Hall provided a statement to The Daily News Thurs- day night, confirming that there is no evidence it received a $20,000 xerox check from Epstein. "From our preliminary review, having received the information in the JP Morgan court filing late this afternoon, the University of the Vir- gin Islands has searched its records for gifts from Mr. Epstein or in the name of his known companies in the amount of $20,000 relating to the ESL Program and we could find no record that the University received such gifts," Hall noted in the statement. Hall said he also reviewed the statements about the "bespoke" class created for Epstein's victims, "and can state unequivocally that I was not aware of the activities de- scribed, and as President never ap- proved or authorized a course being developed for individuals connected with Jeffrey Epstein:" Hall added that, 'The University is engaged in the furtherance of our mission to advance the educa- tional goals of our students and this institution clearly has never aided or supported the activities of Jeffrey Epstein?' There are other inconsistencies in JPMorgan's latest filing. Ellsworth wrote that several Vir- gin Islands officials, including de- Jongh, former Gov. Kenneth Mapp, and Dawn Henry visited Epstein's islands "with regularity." Henry, former Commissioner for the V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources, told The Daily News in a February 2020 interview that she never personally set foot on either Little or Great St. James island, but DPNR officers did visit the islands to enforce zoning and environmental laws. When reached by phone Thurs- -%:A •__it a /cr. • am 4E' lir Enxi /fa er Era day. Henry declined to comment, citing her upcoming deposition in the case. Thursday's filing by JPMorgan also includes a quote from Henry that was taken out of context from a Feb. 18, 2020, article in The Virgin Islands Daily News. The article, titled "Former DPNR Commissioner says territory must learn from Epstein's legacy;' fo- cused on an interview Henry gave about her personal dealings with Epstein. In that interview, Henry described how she and other officials struggled to cite Epstein for destructive illegal construction and environmental violations on his private islands, and his expectation that he would receive special treatment. Henry emphasized that DPNR was not responsible for enforcing the teni- tory's sex offender laws, and noted that the V.I. Justice Department declined to investigate Epstein while he was alive, but did file a civil action against his EFTA00129018