Neil Bridger - Class 1962
 

Submitted by D. Pritchett

 I have many memories of Neil. He was an exceptional individual, not only in my eyes, but in the eyes of almost everyone who knew him. I can't remember how I met Neil, but we  became as close as brothers, and his home was mine, as well as mine being his. He left a gap in many lives that can never be filled.

Neil was barely a year into his flying career when he died in a plane crash in Harbour Deep, along the east coast of the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. He had but 31 hours on the aircraft he was flying, and the conditions that day were such that anyone with much more experience would have had their hands full getting out of that place. I don't know about today, but back then we pretty much did what we were told, especially being new to the job, in fact, I think getting through the first 2 or 3 years was a mix of luck and a little bit of knowledge and common sense, but mostly luck. In my first 18 months of flying, I can name 22 close friends who died in plane crashes.

Denny Pritchett