In 1982 a small air arm was formed within the Suriname defense force called " Surinaamse Luchtmacht " in short also called LUMA . The first military aircraft of the young air force was a Hughes 500 - Model 369D helicopter , simply registered SAF-100 and being used for light observation tasks . Unfortunately the aircraft was written off in March 1982 killing all four occupants , but from May of the same year the Suriname Air Force was being equipped with four ( Pilatus ) Britten Norman BN-2B Defenders . Registered with the numbers SAF-001 , SAF-002 , SAF-003 and SAF-004 . Later on during the decade a Cessna 172 Skyhawk '' ( SAF-007 ) '' , a Cessna 206 '' ( SAF-200 ) '' and in 1993 a Cessna T303 Crusader '' ( SAF-008 ) '' was acquired . The first official Surinam Air Force Commander from 1983 until 1989 was air force pilot lieutenant Eddie Alenso Savalie Djoe . He was one of the passenger victims of the Surinam Airways Flight 764 accident in June 1989 , by then he was already promoted to the rank of Major
Surinam Airways Flight 764
Surinam Airways Flight 764
Suriname National Army