Jeff Dusang: JKIA water salute marks final landing for veteran pilot's 49-year career

At Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, two fire trucks rolled into position on the tarmac as an aircraft taxied slowly forward. Moments later, twin arcs of water rose into the sky, forming a ceremonial arch. The jet moved through the mist, briefly disappearing before emerging on the other side.

Inside the cockpit, Captain Jeff Dusang remained composed behind dark sunglasses. But the gesture marked something deeply personal: after 49 years in aviation, it was his final arrival as a commercial airline captain.

"It touched me. I was struggling to keep my eyes dry," he recalled. "It was very emotional."

The farewell in Nairobi carried special significance for the Canadian-born pilot, who chose Kenya as his home in the later years of his career.

Dusang's fascination with flying began in childhood, watching aircraft trace lines across the Canadian sky.

"I just kept looking at the sky. That fascination stayed with me," he said.

At 16, he joined a flying club and began training in navigation, meteorology and flight planning before progressing to aircraft such as the Cessna 150 and 152. By 17, he had earned his private pilot's licence, and by 18 he was already instructing others.

His early years in aviation were demanding. He worked as a dispatcher at a flying club, fuelling aircraft, checking oil, filing flight plans and even pushing planes by hand.

"There were no tractors then. You did everything yourself. It was hard work," he said.

Just as his career was gathering momentum, Canada's aviation industry was hit by the recession of the early 1980s. Jobs vanished and opportunities became scarce.

"I travelled everywhere looking for work. Everywhere it was the same answer, there were no jobs," he recalled.

The experience strengthened his resolve.

"You don't give up. Aviation teaches you that."

When the industry recovered, he joined regional airlines, flying across Canada and into the United States, including challenging airspace around New York. He later became a flight instructor and examiner with FlightSafety International, training pilots around the world, including in Australia.

**Choosing Kenya**

In 2015, Dusang arrived in Nairobi for what was supposed to be a short assignment. Instead, the visit transformed his life.

"It opened my eyes. I knew there was something different here," he said.

A year later, he left a senior airline position in Toronto and moved to Kenya, joining 748 Air Services as a pilot and Director of Safety. His work included humanitarian flights into volatile regions such as South Sudan and Somalia.

"These flights require a different level of preparation," he said.

His final journey as a commercial pilot was modest in distance, Nairobi to Mombasa and back, but rich in symbolism.

He woke at 2am as usual, following the routine he had maintained for years. Even his cockpit access code, 1665, reflected his aviation journey, from age 16 to 65.

During the flight, he pointed out Mount Kilimanjaro to passengers as it appeared in the distance. The landing in Mombasa was met with applause.

"I always believed you should meet your passengers," he said. "I told them it was my second-last flight."

The return leg to Nairobi carried greater emotion.

"This is it, the final one," he remembered thinking. "Don't mess it up."

He did not. The landing was, in his words, one of his best.

**A water-salute farewell**

Back on the ground, the fire-truck salute at JKIA marked the official end of his commercial flying career.

"I was thinking about everything, the flights, the places, the people," he said.

International aviation regulations require commercial pilots to retire at 65, a rule Dusang views with mixed feelings.

"In other professions, people continue working. In aviation, we just stop," he said. "But I accept the rules."

Although his airline career has ended, Dusang is not leaving aviation behind. Instead, he is returning to instruction, this time in Kenya, where he has obtained a local flight instructor rating.

"I can now pass on all these years of experience to young pilots here," he said.

He hopes to strengthen collaboration between Kenyan and Canadian aviation authorities while helping expand training opportunities.

"There are many niche areas in aviation training that can be developed here," he added.

From a curious boy in Canada to a veteran captain in Nairobi, Dusang's career has spanned nearly five decades, multiple continents and countless hours in the sky.

He has flown through storms, crossed oceans, navigated some of the world's busiest airspaces and trained generations of pilots.

For Dusang, however, aviation has always been about more than flying.

"It's about persistence, discipline and curiosity," he said.

As one chapter closes, another begins in Kenya, where the captain who spent a lifetime crossing skies now turns to guiding those who will follow.