JUNE 5, 2013
TransPac Aviation Academy releases names of accident victims
School establishes funds for fallen colleagues
PHOENIX – Paul Brownell, director of standardization at TransPac Aviation Academy, and Basil Onuferko, a certified flight instructor at TransPac both died Friday morning, May 31, when their plane collided with another about 15 miles northwest of the Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix.
Brownell began working at TransPac in 2005, and Onuferko joined TransPac as a student pilot in May of 2012 earned his CFI certificate at TransPac and he then became an instructor for the Academy in May of 2013.
“This is a tremendous loss for the entire TransPac family and the broader aviation community,” said Stephen Goddard, CEO of TransPac Aviation. “These were two honorable men who all of us are proud to have called colleagues and friends. They brought skill, passion, and love to their work, and the impact that they had on the people who were fortunate enough to have known them was profound and lasting. All of us will suffer for their loss.”
“In effort to pay tribute to the legacy of these two men, we are establishing two separate memorial funds in their memory,” explains Goddard.
The Paul Brownell Family Fund will help provide financial assistance for Brownell’s wife Jenn and their two young boys, Jack, age 4, and Nick, age 2, who are now facing the emotional and financial challenges of adapting to a lifetime without him.
At the request of Onuferko’s parents, TransPac is establishing the Basil Onuferko Memorial Scholarship Fund to help other young men and women pursue their passion for flying as Basil did. The scholarship will provide tuition assistance to other students and potential students who wish to attend TransPac’s training program, to share Onuferko’s dream of becoming a pilot.
Donations can be made online at www.PaulBrownellFamilyFund.com and www.BasilOnuferkoMemorialScholarship.com or call TransPac Aviation at (623) 580-7900.
Donation sites are targeted to go live by Friday, June 7.
TransPac officials are in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration, and in full cooperation with the National Transportation Safety Board for the investigation.
