running of the Airport from the United States Navy yesterday.

USAir Flight 599, the first commercial flight to be guided into the air terminal under Bermuda control, appeared on the horizon over Ferry Reach at 11.23 a.m. and touched down on the runway at 11.26 a.m.

As a fitting tribute to this preeminent event, two Navy P-4 fire engines pumped a stream of water over the plane's fuselage.

This ceremony is usually done to welcome a new flight. It is also performed when a dignitary leaves Bermuda for the last time.

Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons was the first Government official to alight from the plane, followed closely by Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess.

Captain Art Lunney, the chief pilot aboard the flight that brought 148 passengers to Bermuda, said he could not have asked for a better day to fly.

"It was a beautiful flight,'' he said. "We flew out of New York and there was a light chop at an altitude of 37,000 feet but then it smoothed out.

"There was a good ride on the descent, there was a little wind near the surface but other than that it was fine.'' Capt. Lunney said it was a great honour to be asked to lead the flight to Bermuda on the same day that the US Navy handed over responsibility for air operations to the Bermuda Government.

Outside the Airport terminal, a host of dignitaries including Governor Lord Waddington, Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan and Opposition leader Mr. Frederick Wade assembled in the western corner to mark the historic of the event.

Dr. Gibbons, who spoke for five minutes and was involved intimately with the team that oversaw yesterday's transition of air operations to the Bermudian Government, said he was proud that Bermuda was ready to take over the running of the airfield.

"We had 16 months to get a civilian airport operation off the ground,'' he said. "That was set against the fact that all aviation operations in Bermuda have been the exclusive responsibility of the US military since the creation of the Airport more than 50 years ago.'' Since there were no qualified Bermudians ready to take over the Airport initially, Dr. Gibbons said, the Base Transition team had to start from scratch. But they managed to secure overseas assistance in areas of air traffic control, ground electronic maintenance, meteorology and crash fire rescue.

Recently, he said, Bermuda secured two international agreements. The first between the United States and United Kingdom and the second between the United States Federal Aviation Administration and Bermuda.

These agreements will insure the safe and efficient management of Bermuda's airspace.

Meantime, Mr. Burgess said the most striking facet of his flight experience on board USAir 599 was "how routine and normal it seemed.

"If the passengers had not been told the flight marked the transfer of Airport responsibilities from the US Navy to the Government of Bermuda, they would not have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

"That, I think, is the greatest compliment that can be paid to the men and women who have made this transition possible,'' he added.

Both ministers, along with Capt. Tim Bryan, commanding officer of the United States Navy, then signed a scroll which marked the official transfer of the air operations to the Bermuda Government.

Sir John then received the scroll on behalf of the people of Bermuda. The Premier thanked the United States Navy for their 54 years of reliable service to Bermuda and gave Capt. Bryan a book produced by the Masterworks Foundation Gallery as a token of this appreciation.