Recently, a Mississippi man became the youngest Black person in history to become a certified Boeing 777 pilot.
Malik Sinegal, a 23-year-old native of Biloxi, didn’t know he had made history until a Boeing representative reached out to notify him of the achievement.
“The Triple 7 is one of the airplanes that people usually don’t touch until they’re around their 40s or 50s or they’ve been at the airlines for a very long time. And I came down with the opportunity where — a scholarship opportunity where I was able to get into the airplane,” Sinegal told News 25.
The Boeing 777 is the largest twinjet plane in the world.
“The biggest reason for me is that I’ve always wanted to fly this airplane. I was able to get in it for my first time in 2004 going to Anchorage, Alaska, which is my favorite place in the world.”
In 2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that just 3 percent of commercial airline pilots are Black.
Sinegal has a private pilot certificate and studied commercial aviation at Delta State University. He graduated just last year. In 2018, he spanned the globe as an ambassador for Republic Airlines, stopping in places like Egypt, Dubai, Australia and Tokyo.
“I have been blessed enough to see all of the amazing opportunities that this world is ready to offer us,” he told Delta State in 2018. “What you do today will set you in the right path for the rest of your life.”
He dedicated the 16-day trip to his late grandmother, who died in 2017 and dreamed of traveling the world.
Earlier this year, Sinegal founded the Organization for Professional Minority Pilots, which is based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Biloxi High School graduate also serves as the program coordinator for a youth aviation mentorship program
Sinegal is currently a flight instructor at New Heights Aviation in Batesville, Mississippi.
