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As the avi­a­tion world mourns the lives lost in the trag­ic Air In­dia crash on June 12, one Trinida­di­an avi­a­tor is re­mem­ber­ing the pi­lot at the con­trols not just as a col­league, but as a dear friend and kin­dred spir­it in the sky.

Kevin De­onar­ine, a sea­soned com­mer­cial air­plane and he­li­copter pi­lot and cur­rent Lead Civ­il Avi­a­tion Safe­ty In­spec­tor at the Trinidad and To­ba­go Civ­il Avi­a­tion Au­thor­i­ty (TTCAA), spoke ex­clu­sive­ly to Guardian Me­dia about his long-stand­ing friend­ship with the late Clive Kun­der, who trag­i­cal­ly lost his life in the re­cent in­ci­dent.

“I first met Clive dur­ing our ear­ly days at flight school,” De­onar­ine re­called.