A Caribbean Airlines jet carrying 162 people crashed and broke in two Saturday as it landed in Guyana at night, injuring about 30 passengers but killing no one. An instrument landing system was being installed by a Canadian company at the time of the crash. Neil Marks/Reuters

The airport where a Caribbean Airlines jet skidded off a rain-slicked runway and broke apart is upgrading the landing system that helps pilots to land in low-visibility conditions, but the new system wasn't yet operating at the time of the crash, Guyana's top aviation official said Sunday.

Officials and aviation experts cautioned it was far too early to say if the lack of such a system was a factor in the crash that injured about 30 people but miraculously caused no deaths. The Boeing 737-800, with 162 people, including a dozen Canadians, on board, slid off the end of the runway just short of a deep ravine near Georgetown, the South American country's capital.

One Canadian on board suffered a minor injury, according to a statement Saturday from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa.

Ottawa-based Intelcan Technosystems Inc. is installing an instrument landing system at Cheddi Jagan International Airport as part of a $3.5-million US upgrade. Civil Aviation Director Zulfikar Mohamed said the system should be operational soon.

"Things will be better with a new ILS system that we are testing," Mohamed told The Associated Press.

An ILS helps pilots land by giving them a more precise reading of their angle of descent and the position of the aircraft down to 60 metres. It is especially helpful when there is low visibility, as was apparently the case when the pilots were landing the Caribbean Airlines flight early Saturday.

"That's when you want to have the best navigation capabilities," said Doug Moss, a commercial airline pilot who runs AeroPacific Consulting in Torrance, Calif. "ILS, even though it's about 50 years old, is still the best thing they have."

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board announced it has dispatched a team to Guyana to assist with the investigation. It includes experts in operations, meteorology, airworthiness, survival factors and aircraft performance.

Aviation experts say mishaps such as these are typically a result of a combination of factors and conditions. Possibilities during Saturday's rainy pre-dawn darkness include a sudden microburst, a malfunction or a misjudgment of the approach and landing by the pilots.

Patrick Smith, a commercial pilot who has flown into Guyana, said that in addition to the lack of the ILS, which is in place at most large and busy airports, the runway can be challenging because it is relatively short. But he said the runway is in good shape, the air traffic controllers are experienced and it's not an unsafe place to fly.