Pioneers of civil aviation remembered

New Delhi: As India completed 100 years of aviation history on Friday, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi paid tributes to individuals and institutions which have contributed to the growth of the sector in the country.
Inaugurating the Centenary Celebration of Civil Aviation in India, the Minister paid tributes to the pioneers of Indian aviation like JRD Tata, who obtained the first pilot licence issued in India and also founded the first commercial airline which later became Air India.
Tata also launched India's first international carrier - Air India international and later when the government took over he was appointed the Chairman of Air India in 1953, a position which he held for 25 years.
Hundred years ago on February 18, 1911, India's first flight, a commercial plane carrying 6,500 letters, operated between Allahabad and Naini. Bharat Wakhlu from Tata group received the plaque from the Minister on the occasion.
Apart from Tata, first Indian woman pilot Sarla Thakural, Air Marshal Aspy Merwan Engineer - who won the Agha Khan Trophy for being the first Indian to fly from London to Delhi in a Gypsymoth aircraft also found a mention in the minister's inaugural address.
Senior flight pursur of ill-fated Pan Am flight 73, Neerja Bhanot was also remembered for her exemplary courage displayed after the plane was hijacked. She was killed in 1986 while saving the lives of three children from bullets.
18/02/11 Press Trust of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2011