[caption id="attachment_988667" align="alignnone" width="878"] -[/caption]
I grew up in a thatch-roofed hut in Balmain Village, on the Montserrat Sugar Estate, next to the World War II Camden Airstrip, and was fascinated as a child by planes taking off and landing.
My dream was to become a pilot, but due to abject poverty that dream eluded me.
However, on December 1, 1969, after a very intense recruitment process, I began my aviation career with seven other young men who were awarded apprentice scholarships by BWIA – the then national airline. The programme’s goal was to train the apprentices to become licensed aircraft maintenance engineers to do heavy maintenance on jet aircraft.
At that time, BWIA was re-fleeting from the Vickers Viscount turboprop aircraft to the Boeing 707 and 727 jet aircraft, and the heavy maintenance was done overseas.
To gain exposure to heavy maintenance, four apprentices including myself, were selected for a fast-track programme and received specialised overseas training at selected large airlines.
I held several managerial positions at BWIA, the last being director of air safety, where I co-ordinated the acquisition of new aircraft types, including the Mc Donald Douglas MD83, Airbus A321, Boeing 737-800 and the Bombardier Dash 8-300 aircraft.
My tenure at BWIA was my greatest and most cherished learning experience, and prepared me for the next phase of my aviation career.
In August 2000, Parliament enacted the TT Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) Act to regulate all civil-aviation operations in TT. I was interviewed, along with other applicant,s for the position of director general of civil aviation (DGCA), and CEO, created by Section 13 of the act.
After a successful interview, I was appointed the first DGCA, with effect from March 1 2001, a position I held until my retirement in March 2017.
The board mandated me to establish the TT State Aviation Safety Oversight System to attain FAA category-1 status and to modernise the TTCAA aviation infrastructure. This required working closely with the ICAO, FAA, TSA and other international aviation bodies.
In 2001, I assisted in drafting the Civil Aviation Act 2001, which became TT's primary aviation law, enabling the making of ICAO-compliant civil-aviation regulations. Personnel were recruited from BWIA with skills in airworthiness, flight operations, aviation security, cabin safety and dangerous goods to complement the air navigation, aerodromes, aircraft registration and personnel-licensing skillsets of the Civil Aviation Division.
[caption id="attachment_988668" align="alignnone" width="760"] The TT Civil Aviation Authority aviation complex was completed in 2010. Director general Ramesh Lutchmedial, front, centre, with personnel at its opening. -[/caption]
After a successful comprehensive FAA audit, the FAA announced in August 2005 that TT had been upgraded to category 1 status.
In 2005, the TTCAA incorporated a special-purpose company – Caribbean Air Navigation and Services (CANAS) – and disengaged Intercaribbea
