ORIGIN/FAMILY
Captain Chinyere Kalu, MFR hails from Ukwa East
(Abia State) is married to Mr. Kalu Okoli which makes her a citizen of
Ohafia Local Government (also Abia) by marriage. Their marriage is
blessed with three wonderful children: two daughters (now in the United
States where one is pursuing her doctorate degree and the other, her
masters) and a son. She did not grow up with her dad (parents had
separated) so that explains the great degree of female influence over
her. None of her kids have decided to be a pilot and many of the m
remain unconvinced about her career until October 2011 when President
Goodluck Jonathan appointed her the Rector and Chief Executive of
Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) (formerly Nigerian Civil
Aviation Training Center), the largest aviation training institute in
Africa surpassing even those of South Africa. Prior to that, she was the
Head of the College's Flying School as an instructor on contract
agreement.
TRAINING
Upon deciding she wanted to be a
pilot, she got tremendous support from her family and no one was opposed
to her move. She narrated that a major source of motivation for her was
her aunt, her mum's elder sister (who had a lot of influence in the
family) who was a celebrity in the village for being the first person to
travel to the United Kingdom (obodo Oyinbo thins..lol). Her aunt was
well-travelled and saw nothing wrong in her dream, and once she gave her
stamp of approval as the matriarch of the house, everyone else followed
suit and she began her journey into the adventurous world of pilots,
the real birds. She said of her aunt: When I mentioned the idea of
flying, she welcomed the idea having been the first person in my village
to go to UK. She did nursing; she was a trail blazer so to speak. And
having been that exposed she just felt, this is your opportunity don’t
even look back, just make the most of it, grab it. Later, while in
Lagos, she saw an NCAT advert in the newspaper, she applied, had
rigorous interviews and was offered an admission slot. On the 20th of
May, 1981, as Miss Chinyere Onyenucheya, she received her commercial
pilot's license. A passionate lover of knowledge and education, the
following is an overview of her education and training:
-Anglican Girls Grammar School, Yaba, Lagos (primary education also in Lagos).
-Trained as Private and Commercial Pilot, SP.12 Batch, NCAT, Zaria (1978)
-Air Transport Pilot License (ATPL) Course, Bolivia Aviation, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
-Aircraft Accident Investigation and Prevention Course, Federal Aviation Administration, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
-Flight Instructor's Rating, Civil Aviation Authority, Oxford, United Kingdom.
-Commercial Pilot License (CPL/IR), NCAT, Zaria
-Postgraduate Diploma, Transport Management and Logistics, Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria.
-Airborne Collision Avoidance/T-CAS Training for Air Traffic Controllers Course.
-Pilots Human Performance and Limitations/Crew Resources Management/Human Factors Course.
MOTIVATION
When asked what motivated her into the risky career path of flying full of testosterone-driven men, she said: Well, I will say that the motivating factor is just an adventurous spirit, to venture out to see what is out there. I felt flying will be challenging and I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing at the time. I wanted something unique, something special, something challenging, something that I feel will be fulfilling. So, that is what led me into flying. I also thought it will be a good opportunity to travel all over the world and being paid for it. Can you imagine that? So those are the motivating factors.
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