Though overshadowed by the tragedy of the plane crash and disappearance of one of the island’s highly-respected commercial pilots, Captain Kirby Hodge, and two passengers, arrangements are continuing for a grand event to honour all of Anguilla’s pilots, dead or alive.
The event, which will single out Anguilla as having had more pilots per capita, than any other Caribbean island, is the brainchild of Edgar Richardson of West End. It will be a presentation by his company, Modern Day Productions.
“I thought that Mr. Richardson was quite thoughtful in considering that we have had a nation of pilots who served Anguilla well in the past, and many of them are continuing to serve to this day,” Mr. Walcott Richardson, Elected Representative for West End, and Minister of Home Affairs, commented. He was speaking on Friday, October 12, at the launching of the event at a press conference at La Vue, and the day before Kirby’s fateful plane crash between St. Croix and St. Thomas.
“It is thought that we should do something in recognition of the fallen heroes as well as those who are standing out at this time, to put Anguilla in touch with the world in this manner,” Mr. Richardson said. He was happy that one of Anguilla’s outstanding pilots, Cleophas Hodge, who owns a flight school in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, and a is a consultant on aviation matters, was present at the launching of the event.
“Anguilla continues to have some airlift challenges in the tourism sector and I believe that this event will also help to heighten the awareness that Anguilla needs a proper airport,” the Minister went on. “Modern Day Productions is gearing up to generate some funds to sponsor … a scholarship for young Anguillians…to become pilots. This is going to be carefully sorted out by a selection committee and we hope that Anguillians, and our friends, in the region, would appreciate what we are doing.”
Mr. Edgar Richardson spoke about the contribution of Anguillian pilots to the island over the years and the sad loss of a number of them in the process. “It is time for us to come together and honour them the right way,” he stated. “We will have three days of events with a social event on November 16; a church service at Bethel Methodist Church on November 17; a dinner at La Vue, followed by a beach bash at Meads Bay with different cooks supplying the food. There will also be a boat race.”
He was pleased to report that efforts would be made to set up a scholarship fund for the training of promising young Anguillians, male and female. “We are looking to having out first trainee pilot in school next year, God willing,”Richardson said. “In the second year, we want to train an aircraft mechanic; then a technician and later revert to training another pilot and so on. The goal is to keep Anguilla’s aviation alive. If everybody puts in five dollars, it will go a long way in helping us to accomplish what we want.”
Mrs. Shirley Gumbs of Rey Hill, who lost her brother, Lunsford Richardson, in a plane disappearance some thirty years ago, said she was very interested in the event to honour the island’s pilots. She spoke about two young family members who had developed an interest in flying. She added that while she had not yet got over her brother’s death, she still wanted to see a number of Anguilla’s youth trained as pilots.
Minister responsible for Aviation, Evan Gumbs, said Modern Day Productions had come up with a very good idea and he recalled his pleasure in initiating the renaming of Wallblake Airport in honour of Clayton J. Lloyd,Anguilla’s first and outstanding pilot. “We have had quite a few pilots in the past, and aviation is growing a lot more with a number of youngsters who are interested in flying,” said the Minister who stated that he also had a passion for aviation. He stressed that he was in full support of Edgar’s Richardson’s effort to honour the island’s pilots.
Captain Cleophas Hodge, speaking on behalf of all of Anguilla’s pilots, welcomed Mr.Richardson’s initiative and said he was looking forward to the event. “I know we should have a lot of these pilots attending this function,” he remarked. “I have trained over a thousand pilots in my venture as an FAA Certified Flight Instructor/Pilot Examiner and I enjoy what I do.”
Mr. Hodge said aviation was an exciting field and that, with the new and fully equipped aircraft now in operation, flying had become both safer and enjoyable. ‘’I think it is a good field, but I would like to see more people looking towards avionics and maintenance,” he pointed out. “Right now we have a lot of pilots and I enjoy teaching them, but we all cannot be pilots. There is a need for more technically-trained persons as well.”
