The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

Relatives of the victims who died in last week’s tragic Mayaguana plane crash say they are still in mourning over the deaths and are “disappointed” the government hasn’t been more clear as to what will happen moving forward.

Ronnie Charlton, brother to 42-year-old Enamae Polowick, who died last week Thursday, revealed that the family spoke with Mrs Polowick less than an hour before her death.

Mr Charlton also weighed in on the on-going political blame-game between the PLP and the FNM over the state of the airport’s runway.

The aircraft was forced to make a midnight landing on the unlit, damaged runway to pick up Rev Robert Black who was in need of emergency medical care, last Thursday. Upon landing, it clipped one car before colliding with another.

That second car, in which the mother, sister and brother-in-law of former MP Sidney Collie sat, burst into flames. Dying in the explosion were Edith Collie, Enamae Polowick and her Canadian husband, Tim Polowick.

The vehicles had come out to help with the emergency airlift - using their headlights to illuminate the runway, which is not equipped with lights.

Mr Charlton emphasised that the Collie family are not the only ones who are in mourning, as all three victims have extended families of their own. He explained he and Mrs Polowick share the same mother.

“There’s much more to the family than the Collies. Her and Sidney are siblings by the father’s side and (Edith Collie) was her stepmother. But Enamae’s mother is alive and she’s here in Nassau and she’s living with me and she’s doing the best that she can under the circumstances,” he said.

“On the night in question, Mrs Collie called just to let persons know that her uncle was sick and he was trying to get into Nassau on an emergency flight - and this was 12.00 in the night - and basically what she was doing was just calling around to let as much persons know as possible.

“And I guess she must have indicated that she wanted to see him before he took off on this flight so Enamae suggested, ‘Mummy can I go to the airport and take cousin Edith’ - that’s what she called her, cousin Edith, this is her step mother - ‘can I go ahead and use your truck and go to the airport and take cousin Edith to see him.’ And mom, of course, she said ‘yes’ and that’s how the whole thing happened.”

Mr Charlton said upon learning of the incident, his “main focus” was to travel to Mayaguana as quickly as possible to reach their mother, Ena White Charlton.

“I know once she had heard what had happened, it would have been tough for her; it would have been very tough for her,” he said, adding the entire family is “hurting” in the aftermath of the crash.

Mr Charlton said he will remember Mrs Polowick, a BTC associate until 2011, as a “very smart” and “very, very happy” woman who enjoyed spending time with her family.

“She loved kids - she loved her nieces, she loved her nephews; she played with them for hours,” he said. “She loved to take pictures. She loved to travel - she went on many cruises; she went to Canada on many, many occasions.

“Her favourite sport - she loved football. She always pulled for the Jaguars.”

As for his brother-in-law, Mr Polowick, Mr Charlton said: “Tim was a happy guy. He just moved from Canada and he loved the Bahamas. He loved the sun, sand, and sea. He loved the islands. He was just a very, very easy-going guy.”

When asked about the on-going conflict between the FNM and the PLP over the crash, he said both parties “share some responsibility in this” and voiced his “disappointment” over what he believes to be a lack of action in light of the incident.

“From what I heard the prime minister say, I don’t think it’s sufficient; I don’t think he went far enough to say what they’re going to do about the situation,” Mr Charlton said.

“I don’t think the leader of the country went far enough in coming out and saying exactly what they’re going to do (and) what type of action they’re going to take, moving forward. That’s my disappointment and my mother’s disappointment at this point.”