(CMR) Jamaican pilot and engineer Major Dudley Beek was killed in a plane crash in St Mary, Jamaica, Friday, May 5. A lone passenger in the plane survived the crash.
Both men were airlifted to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), where Major Beek was pronounced dead, and the passenger underwent treatment.
According to the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, “An aircraft departed the Tinson Pen Aerodrome for the Ian Fleming International Airport at 9:03 a.m. (1403 UTC), on Friday, May 5, 2023, with two souls on board. Regrettably, the aircraft crashed in the Ballard’s Valley area of Highgate, St Mary, at approximately 9:30 a.m. (1430 UTC), according to confirmed reports.”
The Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority expressed its deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those affected by the aircraft accident,
Beek has been a pilot for decades, receiving his pilot's license in the 1960s. In the 1970s, he built his first hangar at the now Ian Flemming Airport and offered maintenance service locally and internationally.
The former Jamaica Defence Force officer was trained by three major international air forces and enjoyed everything about airplanes. He is from a family of pilots; his father was the first commanding officer of the JDF Air Wing, and his maternal grandfather was a member of the Royal Air Force. He reportedly has two sons and a grandson who are also pilots.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, and investigations are ongoing.
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