Scores of persons jostled for a bird’s eye position Friday morning as Jamaican-born pilot Captain Barrington Irving Jr. arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
Captain Irving is visiting the island following his recent solo flight around the world.
Captain Irving is the founder of Experience Aviation, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering minority youth to pursue careers in aviation.
He told a news conference shortly after his arrival that he is concerned at the reducing numbers of young people interested aviation. In June he became the youngest and the first black person to complete such a journey in an aeroplane he built himself.
Due to unfavourable weather conditions, Captain Irving did not fly his aeroplane into the island and instead arrived on an Air Jamaica flight. Captain Irving, who is 23, was born in Jamaica but raised in Miami, Florida. He is an aerospace student at Florida Memorial University.
