Roraima Airways honours outstanding local pilot

Local air carrier, Roraima Airways last week honoured former pilot Miles Williams, who also served in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), at a special ceremony held at Duke Lodge, Kingston.
In brief remarks at the ceremony which coincided with Williams’ birthday, Roraima Airways’ Managing Director Gerry Gouveia said many times people live their lives, and do extraordinary things and then they fade away. He said life’s challenges and family obligations consume and direct what “we do and where we go”.

He described Williams, a former Special Forces officer, who was also a military pilot, as a Guyanese hero. Williams is the son of Toni and Dennis Williams, the famous anthropologist, artist and historian. Williams, Gouveia said, joined the GDF as a second lieutenant and served as a paratrooper and Special Forces officer before being transferred to the Air Corps where he was trained as a pilot.
“He served under me in the Air Corps and flew with me as my co-pilot on many missions to save lives, rescue people and resupply our forces in the far flung reaches of our hinterland.”
Gouveia said in the early years when they flew together, there were no navigational aids to guide the airmen.
“We used pilotage and dead reckoning and the good old skills of recognising and remembering the shapes of the mountains and the rivers as well as the colour of particular leaves on trees as we descend low to find the destinations we were looking for.”
According to Gouveia, what always struck him about Williams was his willingness to learn, but more particularly, he was always willing to volunteer “to accompany me on dangerous missions as we ventured out into the jungle at night to save people’s lives.  Miles is a patriot and a dedicated humanitarian. He is a lover of nature and is always at home in the jungle”.
Gouveia spoke of Williams’ bravery and skills as a navigator in the jungle saying, “He is a leader of men. During his years of service with Roraima, he served as our chief pilot and did many night medivacs, saving many lives. He is a first class and skilful pilot whose involvement in search and rescue operations is well known among his peers.”
Gouveia added: “He was always ready, always willing, always brave, he is a natural pilot who used his skill to fly his planes into some of the most challenging and  dangerous areas, landing on some of the shortest runways  to bring  food to the hungry, medical drugs to the needy, and medical evacuation to the critically injured.”