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All Woman
The Lady flyer
'You can't be too afraid of challenges...' JDF's lady flyer soars high
By NADINE WILSON All Woman writer
Monday, June 22, 2009
FROM the moment she stepped into the cockpit of an Air Jamaica plane at age 10, Lieutenant Melecia Sinclair was sold on the idea of becoming a pilot. At 18, she flew her first plane, and upon completing her studies at the Ardenne High School, the now 26-year-old enrolled in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) to become a pilot. Today she is the only female pilot in the JDF Air Wing - the last woman in her position did so 18 years ago.
"It feels good, it feels as if I am making an impact, and you are opening doors for the females and letting them see that an opportunity is there so they can come and join," Sinclair told All Woman last week, just minutes after landing a helicopter on the military ramp of the JDF Air Wing. "Most persons think it's male dominated and since I am here, it proves that it is not that male dominated."
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Flying has become routine for the lieutenant and although she has to get her required eight hours' rest to be alert for her next flight, she spends a few minutes telling us about how she became a pilot.
"I actually came here to the air wing before I went on my officer's course. I came here as an officer cadet and the briefing I got was, 'you normally spend six months in New Castle, then a year overseas, then you come back and you do a year on your pilot course, so in roughly two and a half to three years, you become a pilot'," she said.
This wasn't to be the case, as the young officer spent nine months training in New Castle, a year in England and then three years in the unit before she began her piloting course. Still she wasn't fazed, she saw this as an opportunity to gain more knowledge about military operations.
"It's a very steep learning course, so you have to have the aptitude for it," she said.
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| SINCLAIR...you have to be able to 'man up' (Photo: Naphtali Junior) |
Since becoming a pilot, Sinclair has been on a number of rescue missions, flying over mountains and seas to help with the evacuation of countless Jamaicans who have been isolated from the rest of the island due to natural disasters. At times, she is called upon to be the co-pilot on 'VIP' missions, at which time, she takes the Governor General or Prime Minister to their destinations.
"For missions like those you feel very privileged, because these are the heads of state, the most important persons in the country and you are flying them around, so you feel a great task is being asked of you, but once you get it done, you feel very accomplished," she said.
Just two weeks ago, her crew assisted with the rescuing of 10 people in Winchester, St Thomas who were stranded on their roof after heavy showers flooded them out.
And now that the hurricane season is here, the lieutenant is gearing up for more of these kinds of missions.
"Sometimes the Prime Minister or ministers would like to see the areas that are being flooded out ... or because of the flooding, pipe lines would burst, so the water commission wants to go out there ; and JPS wants to go out there because the lights are out; and the media wants to go out there because they want good aerial photos to go in the news," she said.
Lieutenant Sinclair is just one of 13 'regular' JDF pilots in the island.
This means a hectic work schedule for the young officer; but the thrill of flying keeps her going even in the most catastrophic situation.
"It is a getaway, it's relaxing. Just manoeuvering a machine as a female is great. The typical thing is [expected] for you to be in the household, but instead you are up there with the guys," she said.
And the "guys" she said have been very accommodating.
"It's fun being down here, because even though I am the only female pilot, they always say I am one of the guys, so yes I am a female, yes they will nurture and want to take care of me, but even though they care for me and they look out for me, they treat me like one of the guys," she pointed out.
But even for her at times, it is hard to believe that the shy little 10-year-old who stood fascinated by the myriad of buttons in the Air Jamaica aircraft, is now the one monitoring the gauges, the controls and the radio at the same time in a state-owned helicopter. Yet she does this effortlessly, even while thinking of how she and her crew will once again help to save another life.
It is for this reason why becoming a JDF pilot isn't for the faint hearted, it takes courage and this fact became abundantly clear to Sinclair on her first assignment as a pilot.
"We got a call for a casual evacuation and the person was 20 miles south of Pedro Keys. Now Pedro Keys is off the coast so it's over seas. You are on a ship that's moving, you are hovering, you are trying to get him on the stretcher and put him on, and bring him up so you can take him to a hospital...it was memorable, but it also gave you a good feeling that I just got checked out as a co-pilot and I was able to help save someone's life," she said.
But while the job is fun and worthwhile, it does have its drawbacks - for one it means long hours. And unfortunately accidents can happen at any time and so while many are sleeping in their beds at night, Sinclair and her colleagues are scouring the island doing surveillance and carrying out rescue missions.
But despite all this, the young pilot says she loves serving her country.
In fact she encourages other females to get on board.
"You have to know that there is going to be a lot of hard work, you have to know that you are going to have to be flexible and conform. You are going to feel that you are being picked on, but that is not the case, you just have to know that they want better for you, and you have to be able to 'man up' for want of a better word. You can't be too afraid of challenges, because remember, you not only have your life in your hands while flying, you also have to ensure the safety of the other persons," she said.
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