The very first Air Malta flight ever captained by a Maltese pilot was the departure of KM116 to Gatwick on October 8, 1985. The captain of that flight was 31-year-old Charles Massa, who has retired. At the time, all Air Malta flights were captained by foreign pilots and Mr Massa had been flying under supervision with them in preparation for his command. In 1974, the possibilities of becoming a pilot in Malta were very remote. After 41 years of flying for Air Malta, 31 of which as Captain, Mr Massa flew a total of 25,000 hours and piloted over 8,000 take-offs and landings. His last flight, KM 612, Malta-Rome-Malta, was on May 5. He is seen here (fifth from left) with his crew, from left: Rebecca Micallef, Claire Muscat, First Officer Paul Sultana, Analise Zammit, Anthony Schembri and Ian Gauci Borda.