Captain Feriel Ally created history on Thursday, qualifying as the first female Cessna Grand Caravan pilot in Guyana, Air Services Ltd said.
Ally, the daughter of local aviation pioneer Yacoob Mazaharally, started her aviation career in 1989 when she obtained her pilot’s licence.
Since then she has accumulated a number of flying hours on the Cessna 172 and 206 taking supplies into the remote and challenging airstrips of the timber concessions owned by A Mazaharally and Sons, Limited, ASL’s parent company, a press release said.
Ally obtained her commercial pilot’s licence in 1998 in the United States. She qualified on the Britten Norman Islander twin-engine aircraft; the aircraft of choice for the tourism and corporate sectors.
The Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft which Ally is now qualified to fly is a 13-seater turbo-prop aircraft which is in demand because of its greater speed, silence and seating capacity. “It is also a favourite in the industry because of its reliability, better fuel efficiency and greater passenger and cargo capacity,” the release said. ASL Operations Manager Annette Arjoon-Martins said the company is proud of Ally’s achievements and celebrates the fact that it has the first female caravan pilot in its crew.
