Tourism Minister Proposes Ambassador Title for Captain Irving

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has proposed that the title of Ambassador for Tourism be conferred on Jamaican pilot, Captain Barrington Irving, for his recent successful historic world mission.
At the World Flight Adventure gala, held in Captain Irving’s honour on September 22 at the Florida Memorial University, the Minister said the honour would be in addition to the Order of Distinction, Commander Class (CD), to be conferred on Captain Irving next month at King’s House.
Praising the young aviator, Mr. Bartlett told the 400 well-wishers who attended the gala, that Mr. Irving has now joined the ranks of many other deserving Jamaicans who had accomplished much in the areas of sports, entertainment and education, among others.
Mr. Irving, a 23 year-old senior, majoring in aerospace at Florida Memorial University, used his single engine plane called ‘Inspiration’, to fly solo around the world, making him the first black and the youngest aviator to achieve such a feat.
On June 23, Captain Irving completed his mission, which took him 97 days. He flew more than 26,000 miles across almost 27 countries, beginning in March.
Consul General, Ricardo Allicock also spoke of Captain Irving as a “symbol of human potential and possibility,” indicating that his bold mission had made Jamaica proud.
Dr. Karl Wright, President of Florida Memorial University and also a Jamaican national, said Captain Irving was the newest member of the first flight achievers among the pioneers in the aviation industry worldwide.
During Jamaica’s 45th anniversary of Independence celebrations in early August, Captain Irving and his family were guests of the Jamaican government for four days.
Born in Kingston, Captain Irving was raised in Opa Locka, Miami. He has been using his successful mission to encourage other young people to resist the negative influences of the streets and work towards their dreams.
He has also established the first aviation learning centre – Experience Aviation Learning Centre – located at the Opa-Locka Airport, to allow inner-city young persons the opportunity to pursue careers in aviation and aerospace, through training programmes using donated computers and flight simulator software from Microsoft.