YOUR TOWN

ERAU flight standards check airman earns accreditation from National Association of Flight Instructors

Rafael Dubena is now a master flight instructor.

By Observer Staff
| 12:00 p.m. March 1, 2024

Rafael Dubena is now accredited as a master flight instructor with the National Association of Flight Instructors. Courtesy photo

Ormond Beach Observer
News

Rafael Dubena, a flight standards check airman at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, has earned the master flight instructor accreditation from the National Association of Flight Instructors.

Dubena, a graduate of ERAU with a double-major in air traffic control management and aeronautics, began his aviation journey at 4 years old, flying in an Embraer Bandeirante to his family’s farm in the Amazon rainforest. He grew up looking forward to those airplane rides, according to a press release, and moved to Daytona Beach to start flight training after finishing high school in Brazil.

While at ERAU, he received the Student of the Year Chairman’s award, and after graduating, he worked for two years at LATAM Airlines in Brazil as an Airbus A320 first officer. He returned to ERAU to flight instruct after the COVID-19 pandemic.