This 23-year-old is soaring to new heights as the youngest certified Boeing 777 pilot in the world, reports Daily Mail.
Malik Sinegal is a recent college graduate from Mississippi who earned a degree in flight operations from Delta State University just last year.
He wasn’t even aware that he had achieved such a big goal until he received a call from a Boeing representative to congratulate him last month.
“The Triple 7 is one of the airplanes that people usually don’t touch until they’re around their forties or fifties or they’ve been at the airlines for a very long time,” said Sinegal in an interview with WXXV25.
The Biloxi native said he’s always had his eye on Boeing 777 since experiencing what’s known as the world’s largest twinjet plane as a child.
According to Daily Mail, in 2018, he continued down a path of alignment when he first got to enter the cockpit of his dream jetliner after he won a scholarship through his school. Next, as a junior commercial aviation major at Delta State, Sinegal served as an ambassador for Republic Airlines after being selected to help recruit pilots.
For 16 days, he got the opportunity to travel the globe aboard Republic flights which included stops in Japan, Australia, Egypt, and Dubai. He dedicated the world tour to his late grandmother who he says had always dreamed of taking a trip around the world.
“I have been blessed enough to see all of the amazing opportunities that this world is ready to offer us,” said Sinegal in a press release put out by the college. “What you do today will set you in the right path for the rest of your life.”
Currently, he works as a flight instructor in Mississippi, and according to his LinkedIn, he previously served as the first officer with Trans States Airlines.
Sinegal also founded the Organization of Professional Minority Pilots where he also actively serves in the mentorship program designed to help aspiring Black pilots achieve their dream.
