Flying instructor’s last phone call ‘Mom, the weather isn’t looking too good’

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CHCH news has learned that the Niagara Flying Instructor killed in a crash last week had called his mother shortly before taking off expressing his concern about the weather he was heading into.

Rifat Tawfig became an instructor at the St. Catharines flying club earlier this year with aspirations of flying for a Saudi Arabian airline. A funeral service was held for him Wednesday in St. Catharines. His parents travelled from Saudi Arabia to attend their son’s funeral. Tawfig had been living in Niagara Falls since 2014 since graduating from Waterloo.

Tawfig, 19-year-old Ben Jeffries and 18-year-old Corey Mijac died on October 16 after returning from a training flight in the U.S. The small aircraft, a Piper Cherokee was flying to Niagara District airport from Richmond, Virginia when it disappeared from radar. The plane was found a day later in Potter County, Pennsylvania.

“He told her, mom the weather isn’t looking to good pray for us and those were the last words he said to her unfortunately.” Mawia Janoudy, Rifat’s friend.

While there was rain in the forecast, investigators say it could be weeks before a cause is determined.