ASL’s Sodhan Benjamin is a ‘Special Person’

Feb 21, 2021 News, Special Person

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From handyman to Senior Aircraft Engineer…

 

By Rehanna Ramsay

Kaieteur News – When Sodhan Benjamin was just a teenage boy, he would visit the airstrip at Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) and gaze longingly at the airplanes as they took off from the runway into the open skies.
Absolutely captivated by the gravity-defying vehicles, the lad would stand in the nearby grass fields and watch as the aircraft vanished beyond the clouds and the sound of their rustling engines could no longer be heard.
Never had he imagined that he would one day, have a career in the field of engineering and maintenance of the fascinating air carriers.
Today, Mr. Benjamin is a Senior Aeronautical Engineer attached to Air Services Limited (ASL) with close to 40 years of experience in the field.
This week’s ‘Special Person’ has journeyed from a lower rank airport employee at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport (formerly Ogle Airport) to a respected and cherished senior staff at ASL, one of the nation’s leading domestic aircraft service providers.
He told Kaieteur News that he started out a little under three decades ago as an ordinary loader (handyman), fetching luggage and other items and loading them onto aircraft at Ogle.
However, determined to improve his skill and knowledge of the aircraft, Benjamin
worked his way up the ladder from handyman to maintenance worker and later entered the field of aeronautical engineering, obtaining several certificates and a licence to operate under the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
In the early stages of his career, while the remuneration package of a loader was not much to talk about, Benjamin found satisfaction in working close to the aircraft.
As one would imagine that later drove him to train extensively in the mechanical aspects of the aircraft. His commitment to the job is what caught the eye of ASL’s management and the company organized a full scholarship for him to study aeronautical engineering.
Since then, Benjamin has been a qualified aeronautical engineer with ASL for close to 20 years and an employee of the company for much longer. His dedication to his work has never waned from the day he started.
Benjamin told Kaieteur News that his objective is always to put out his best work. A steadfast endeavour has earned him the admiration of those closest to him.
In fact, this week’s ‘Special Person’ has a son who has chosen to follow in his footsteps. Mr. Benjamin beamed with pride as he spoke of his son, Navendra Benjamin.
“He is also training as an aeronautical engineer with ASL. He started young, straight out of the St. Rose’s High School. So, I am happy for him because he will have space to grow and take advantage of the opportunities within the industry,” Benjamin said of his son.
The senior aircraft engineer also has a daughter, Vimla, with his wife, Priya, of whom he is equally proud. “My daughter is currently studying business management; I am also very proud of her,” the doting father added.

 

 

THE SIMPLE LIFE
The Benjamin clan leads a simple life as residents of Chateau Margot, ECD. When Benjamin is not down at the airstrip working on the airplanes, he is likely at home relaxing with his wife and dog Maxx.
Outside of that, he enjoys spending his leisure time in his kitchen garden or watching a good game of cricket.
The simplicity of countryside living is nothing new to Benjamin, who told this publication that the village of Industry, ECD, a few villages away from his current abode, is where he spent most of his boyhood years.
He related that he was part of an 11-sibling household with his parents, Patrick and Ivy Benjamin. They lived modestly.
“My father worked as a ‘grounds man’ for the community centre at Ogle and my mother was a housewife. My parents were simple people. They had 11 children; eight girls and three boys,” he said, adding that although they were considered poor, his parents did the best they could to ensure he and his siblings had a reasonable life.
“We had the basics; food, clothes, shelter and we would go to school for as long as they could afford to send us,” Benjamin said. He noted that as a small boy, he relished in the things that are synonymous to life in rural Guyana. “I played a lot of cricket and followed the cows out in the pasture to graze,” the engineer said of his childhood.
Those years, the young Benjamin attended kindergarten and primary school in Cummings Lodge. He was, however, only able to attend school until he was 14 years old, due to the financial constraints of his family.
As a result, the teenage Benjamin spent most of his days frolicking in the streets and nearby pastures of the East Coast villages playing sports and climbing fruit trees.

 

 

 

 

 

AIRCRAFT FASCINATION
He recalled specifically that during that time, he would visit the Ogle airstrip whenever he went to the nearby pasture to watch over his father’s cows.
He said that it was during this time that he developed a fascination for the aircraft. “I loved to watch as the planes took off and land on the airstrip. So I would go over there a lot,” he said.
As a result of his constant visits to the airport, Benjamin became familiar with some of the staffers, whom he would converse with and find out about the jobs, which they had available.
“One day, I visited and one of the guys said that they needed loaders and so I applied and got the work…I think I was around 19 years old,” Benjamin said of joining the airport staff complement.
His job as a handyman/loader gave him access to the airplanes.
“I was basically a handyman; I would help to load up the planes with whatever cargo the passengers had to carry on board,” he said.
After just a few years loading cargo, Benjamin worked his way up to join the maintenance crew of ASL.
As part of the maintenance crew, he spent years learning the intricacies of aircraft mechanics and engineering. Some of what he learnt included regular draining of oil, cleaning plugs, and other minor repairs in addition to the ground preparations.
“I started to show interest in the work, which the crew was doing on the hangar floor and eventually I joined them as assistant maintenance operator,” he said.
Though he was not officially trained in the field, Benjamin was as good as any of the guys in his department.
“I had basically learned by doing. I didn’t go to school for it but I knew the job (before studying). There is so much work that goes into the maintenance of the aircraft before it is safe for use,” he said, noting that he had spent long hours working on each aircraft to ensure that they were in flying condition when the time came.
That commitment to servicing the planes must have caught the attention of his employers because Benjamin was soon after offered a full scholarship to study aeronautical engineering from ASL.
“I was working one day when management called me for a meeting. They offered me the scholarship and I took it,” he said, explaining that, at the time, to study aeronautical engineering, he needed at least $2M.
“I couldn’t afford to pay to study at the time. I was married and the children were small. So when the company offered to pay for my studies, I was really happy about it,” he said.
According to Benjamin, the years of study required sacrifice. He noted that given that his children were young, his wife did a bit of catering to help supplement the family’s expenses.
“The company also made it flexible for me to complete my courses. I would only work shifts that allowed me to work and study,” he added.
As part of his training, Mr. Benjamin had to complete his studies in the six-module course, which included aircraft regulation, piton engine, propellers, and modules three and four.
After obtaining the necessary qualification, Benjamin was later licensed by the GCAA.

 

 

LEGACY
These days, as a Senior Aeronautical Engineer, he is a mentor to several of the upcoming engineers, several of whom refer to him as “Uncle Benjie”.
In addition to supervising the young team, Benjamin has the privilege of signing off on any aircraft that has undergone maintenance work. His approval is essential to the aircraft having clearance to take to the skies for a certain number of hours.
At any given shift, he and his crew are tasked with the maintenance and repairs of the engine and structure of the various types of aircraft under ASL’s domestic fleet.
“These include the Cessna 206, 208, 172, and the Britten Norman Island,” he said, noting that the company has approximately two dozen aircraft in its fleet.
And although he still does some of the maintenance works, his efforts are more focused on training the younger engineers.
He told Kaieteur News that while he is “getting up in age,” he wants to leave as much as he can with the younger men.
His son, in particular, will benefit from the experience and knowledge. The younger Benjamin, who is already certified in his field, told this newspaper that his father was the inspiration behind him joining ASL as an aeronautical engineer.
“I always used to visit the airport and hangar floor with him when I was younger and I said I wanted to be a pilot but when I left school and started my work study at ASL, I started to realize the importance of what he did. There is so much that happens behind the scene with the maintenance of the aircraft that makes it safe for people like us to travel,” the proud son said.
Much like his father, Navendra is seeking to advance in his career in the coming years.
“My goal is to one day work in a managerial position in the aviation sector, hopefully, to help advance the way we do things locally,” he stated.

 

 

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