Munidat “Raj” Persaud
A Guyanese pilot who illegally flew two small aircraft out of the Eugene F Correia International Airport at Ogle in 2016 was on Saturday killed in a plane crash off Long Island, New York.
Dead is 41-year-old Munidat “Raj” Persaud of Waterbury, USA.
The twin-engine Piper PA-34 he was piloting crashed into the water around 11:10h on Saturday with three persons, including Persaud. The first body was recovered soon after the crash, but the remaining bodies were found in the water on Sunday evening near the plane’s fuselage.
It was reported that the plane took off from Danbury Municipal Airport in Connecticut but its intended destination was unclear.
Moments after the two bodies were pulled from the water on Sunday, Persaud was positively identified as the owner of the aircraft.
Based on a Newsday report, Persaud owned two companies that train pilots – Danbury Flight Training and Oxford Flight Training, according to Connecticut business records.
On the Oxford Flight Training website, Persaud describes himself as a commercial pilot and certified FAA maintenance inspector and technician, adding that he started the company in 2004. He previously worked as an airline flight engineer, employed by Pan American World Airways as a technical representative and avionics tech.
In addition, the FAA records proved that Persaud owned another Piper PA-34 that crashed May 20 on Bald Mountain in Vermont.
The pilot in that crash died from his injuries and had received commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates just days before, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s website. The pilot had been flying back to Waterbury-Oxford Airport from Burlington International Airport — against the advice of an expert adviser, who was surprised to learn he had elected to fly in rainy and cloudy weather instead of waiting a day, according to the Safety Board’s report.
Further, two years ago, a student flying a Cessna plane that Persaud owned suffered serious injuries after he crashed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, according to the NTSB, which cited pilot error.
Meanwhile, Persaud and an unnamed pilot in June 2016 had flown out from the Ogle Airport without authorization, two Cessna 206 aircraft, which were the subject of High Court litigation in Guyana.
