Steven Archille has always wanted to achieve two dreams. First and foremost—the oldest of five kids, wanted to fly. Secondly, he wanted to write a book. He’s since achieved both dreams. He is a professional pilot, and in April of 2010, while working for an airline based in the Middle East, he started scribbling what would become his autobiography The Seven-Year-Old Pilot. The book chronicles the Haiti-born airline professional’s life from his days as a little boy who dreamt of flying airplanes to the consummate professional jet airline captain that he is today. He’s flown all over northern Africa, The Arabian Peninsula, Turkey anad The Middle East.
“I believed then, and still do, that my story can help inspire people to go after their dreams—no matter the struggle,and no matter where they’re from,” says Captain Steven to Kreyolicious.com. “I also believe that it is God who places such driving passions within us, and that he also places within us the ability to realize those dreams.”
Currently single, Captain Steven Archille dreams of being a loving husband and caring father one day. His parents have been married for 42-years and he has them as a model to follow…so Kreyolicious girls…ahem…
Kreyolicious: Your last name is Archille. Couldn’t help but think that if the “r” wasn’t there, and an “s” were added, then you think of the word Achilles’ heels. And as defined by the book The Reader’s Handbook of Allusions, References, Plots and Stories, “Achilles Heel” is that weakness, that vulnerability that could spur a person’s downfall. What would you say has been your Achilles heels over the course of your life?
I would say probably my impatience. When I really want something, or someone, the picture is always so vivid and clear in my mind of what it would be like to be in that situation, that I often have a hard time waiting for the right circumstances to come together to make that vision a reality. I still have to remind myself often that everything worth doing will take lots of time and effort. When I want something, I want it now, so that’s still a work in progress.
Kreyolicious: Do you think that the fact that you are a pilot gave your life a sense of urgency—and a sort of clarity on your own mortality? For instance, at any given time on a plane, have you ever thought to yourself: “What if this is my last flight?”
When I’m up in the sky, there are no problems. I truly have a sense of how impossible flying is, each time I do it. To take a plane filled with 180 lives, that weighs 160,000 pounds into the sky amazes me every time. And the things I get to see from up there: sandstorms, the Northern Lights, the Nile River, the Amazon River, the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, more stars in the sky than you could ever imagine, etc, always fill me with a sense of awe and gratitude. So I guess in that sense, yes—it makes me aware of how precious and wondrous and incredible this gift we call life—really is. I have had one major emergency, which was an engine failure of a two-engine jet over the Caribbean, but as I wrote in my book, I wasn’t filled with fear of my own mortality, because the training kicked in. We practice engine failures countless times during training and when it happened in real life, it was more like “Well, time to go to work”—and we landed safely, on one engine.
Kreyolicious: Did you have a toy plane when you were little?
I did! Lots of them! I used to buy these 25-cent balsa-wood airplanes models with every quarter I got and whenever I was patient enough to wait to amass 50 cents, I would get the fancy one with a propeller. I would spend hours in the park throwing my little airplane models into the air and imagine I was inside as they soared through the sky.
Kreyolicious: If you were to go by what the experiences you’ve had as a pilot, what would you say to someone who wants to be one?
For me, flying has always meant freedom, fun and adventure. I dreamt of flying jets around the world as a boy and I feel blessed every day, to be living my childhood dream. That’s why I entitled my book “The Seven Year-Old Pilot”, because I still in many ways feel like I’m that little boy from Haiti who had dreams of a life in the clouds, traveling to exotic, faraway places. So to anyone who wants to be a pilot I say go for it! But be prepared for lots and lots of studying and hard work along the way, but in the end it will all be worth it when they’re siting in the captain’s seat, traveling at 600 miles an hour, high above the world below.
Kreyolicious: When you were making decisions about your journey and your career, did you ever have a gut feeling that turned out to be totally wrong?
Yes. I learned to fly in college, but the first two universities I attended just didn’t fit into what my idea of college was, so although I had thought each time that I had found the right school, I was wrong. I finally got it right with my third school, Ohio University, where I earned my Bachelor’s in Aviation, along with all my FAA pilot licenses.
Kreyolicious: When was the last time you landed a plane in Haiti?
I’ve never actually landed a plane in Haiti. I did fly over Haiti about a dozen times when I was doing some flights from Brazil to the USA. I still remember the first time I flew over Haiti, looking down onto the land of my birth. I was struck with such a deep sense of gratitude to be sitting where I was and imagined a seven year-old boy like the one I was when I left Haiti for the USA, looking up at my jet flying overhead, the way I used to, and dreaming of flying one day too.
Kreyolicious: What’s next for you in your career?
In the short-term, I’ll be starting a new flying job with another airline in a couple of months and I’m really excited about that because it will allow me new experiences, new destinations and new people to work with. In the long-term, my dream airplane is a Boeing 777 (I’m currently a captain in an Airbus A320), so I won’t stop until I’m sitting in that 777 heading out over the mighty Pacific Ocean or over the Himalayas or over Haiti. As a boy I always said I want to fly big airplanes to faraway places—and for me, that Boeing 777 will be the ultimate fulfillment of my boyhood dream.
[All photos provided by subject. ]
