The Tribune

By TANEKA THOMPSON

Tribune News Editor

A LOCAL doctor will pilot a single engine plane into New Jersey this weekend to present the Bahamian flag to members of the Albert E Forsyth Chapter of the Black Pilots of America.

The chapter is named after Bahamian pilot Albert Forsyth, who was born on Fowler Street and later attended McGill University in Canada. Forsyth and his co-pilot C Alfred “Chief” Anderson are known for their Pan-American Goodwill Tour of the Caribbean, which marked the first flight of a land plane from Miami to the Bahamas.

In 1934, with Dr Forsyth at the wheel, and Anderson as co-pilot, under the headlights of local cars their plane was the first to land on solid ground in Nassau.

Until then only seaplanes flew into the Bahamas. It has been said that Forsyth, on that flight, had helped to develop air tourism to the West Indies, The Tribune reported.

Dr Harold Munnings, a local gastroenterologist, hopes to raise awareness at home and abroad about the historical impact Forsyth made and the racial barriers the late pilot broke down.

He said that Forsyth was an accomplished pilot in an era when it was believed that black people could not fly. His co-pilot Anderson later joined the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama where he trained other pilots. Anderson once gave former US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt a plane ride when she visited Tuskegee in 1941.

“That’s what gripped me, that here’s a side of history that I had no idea about. I’m hoping to bring a little greater awareness to this great Bahamian,” Dr Munnings said.

He added: “I kind of feel like I have some kinship with Dr Forsyth, he’s a Bahamian, I’m Bahamian, he’s a doctor I’m a doctor. He got his degree at McGill University where I studied pre-med.”

Forsyth was inducted into the Smithsonian Air Museum and has been honoured by the US post office.

“When Albert died in 1986, he was famous enough that his obituary was in the New York Times, he was well known in New Jersey and respected enough that the New Jersey chapter renamed the chapter after him,” Dr Munnings said, lamenting the fact that Forsyth is little known in his country of birth.

“I think the Albert Forsyth Chapter is the only chapter that’s named after an individual and it’s named after a Bahamian.”

Dr Munnings, who is new to piloting planes, said he began corresponding with the president of the pilots association and hopes to give the group more insight into Forsyth’s Bahamian background.

Along with the Bahamian flag, Dr Munnings will also take a letter of greeting from Governor-general Sir Arthur Foulkes to members of the Albert E Forsyth Chapter of the Black Pilots of America.