A Guyanese pilot who operates a flight training school in Connecticut in the United States died after a small plane crashed off Long Island, New York, on Saturday around midday.
Reports are that Munidat “Raj” Persaud was among three persons who were on board the twin-engine Piper PA-34 aircraft which crashed in the waters off Quogue Beach at about 11:10hrs.
Family members said that Munidat Persaud ran a flight school and frequently flew out of Waterbury-Oxford Airport in Oxford and Danbury Airport.
His body was recovered along with two others off the coast of New York.
Authorities said a twin-engine Pipe PA-34 took off from Danbury Airport on Saturday, then crashed into the Atlantic Ocean just south of the village Quogue. Munidat Persaud’s family said he left behind two daughters.
“He loved education. He believed that girls should read and write and be strong leaders,” said Mari Persaud, Munidat Persaud’s daughter. “He was very adamant about our education and I think that’s what really inspired him to become an instructor because he loved teaching people.”
Troopers said it was a surfer who told them that he saw the plane go down.
Several pieces of the aircraft were found; however, the fuselage remained missing as of Monday morning.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it is still looking for the exact cause of the crash.
Meanwhile, in June 2016, Persaud, along with another pilot flew two Cessna planes out of Guyana illegally under the cover of darkness, leaving officials at the Eugene F Correia International Airport at Ogle in a quandary.
The two Cessna 206 aircraft, bearing registration numbers 8R-GTP and 8R-GMP, were owned by Oxford Aviation which Persaud had headed while in Guyana.
During the early-morning blitz, Persaud long with another pilot whose only name was given as “Vladimir,” departed undetected to Grenada and later island-hopped their way farther north to the island of Anguilla.
Reports indicate that one of the aircraft was prevented from moving onward, while the other was allowed to depart for San Juan, Puerto Rico, the following day.
The flights did not have the necessary Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) clearance and permission to fly while a High Court injunction was in place barring the two aircraft from leaving this jurisdiction.
The court matter stemmed from action taken by another company, Domestic Airways, owned by pilot Orlando Charles, which filed litigation for payment for damage reportedly caused by one of the Oxford Aviation planes.
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