Sunwing confirms that Vincentian will pilot inaugural flight

Sunwing Airlines has confirmed that Daniel Gibson, a national of St Vincent and the Grenadines, will be one of the pilots who will fly the inaugural flight of the airline into the Argyle International Airport (AIA) on February 14, 2017.

Chief executive officer of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority (SVGTA) Glen Beache told SEARCHLIGHT on Friday that during discussions with Sunwing earlier that day, the Canadian charter company shared that Gibson, who is a captain and instructor with the airline, will be one of the pilots in the cockpit.

Last Wednesday, Beache had said while the request to have Gibson fly the plane into St. Vincent had been made of Sunwing, he could not be sure that the request would be granted.

On Sunday, December 6, 2015, when the inaugural flight of regional airline LIAT flew into the AIA, at the controls of the ATR 72-600 aircraft was captain Phil Gunsam, with captain Gregory Williams being his co-pilot. Both Vincentians, Gunsam and Williams had at that time each been with the regional airline for 29 years and have both attained the rank of training captain.

The LIAT flight 456 departed the ET Joshua Airport at about 4:30 pm on December 6, 2015 with 53 passengers and four crew on board.