Mumbai: The 'sighting' of paragliders/balloons in Mumbai's airspace continues. Now, an Air India pilot on Friday claimed that he saw four such objects below the plane he was flying near Vasai.
Friday's incident seems significant in view of the fact that a helium balloon flying at a height of about 25,000 feet in Barmer was shot down by an Air Force fighter jet after it was picked up on a radar on Republic Day. It happened amidst the high alert the entire country was put on after the Pathankot attack and Republic Day celebration.
As per the chronology available with airport authorities, the pilot of flight AI671 was given permission to take off around 9.35am. On reaching 24,000 feet, he told the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) that he has sighted four paragliders or balloons about 10 nautical miles behind from his present location. "The flying objects were red, yellow, blue and green in colour and were at about 8,000 feet," said an airport official.
On January 13, the pilot of a Pawan Hans helicopter had reported seeing six paragliders flying over the JW Mariott hotel in Juhu. In another such case, a passenger had tweeted to the Mumbai police that from his window seat in Air India flight AI865 (Delhi-Mumbai), he had seen three white, triangular flying objects about 10 minutes before the plane landed at city airport on January 20.
30/01/16 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis
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Friday's incident seems significant in view of the fact that a helium balloon flying at a height of about 25,000 feet in Barmer was shot down by an Air Force fighter jet after it was picked up on a radar on Republic Day. It happened amidst the high alert the entire country was put on after the Pathankot attack and Republic Day celebration.
As per the chronology available with airport authorities, the pilot of flight AI671 was given permission to take off around 9.35am. On reaching 24,000 feet, he told the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) that he has sighted four paragliders or balloons about 10 nautical miles behind from his present location. "The flying objects were red, yellow, blue and green in colour and were at about 8,000 feet," said an airport official.
On January 13, the pilot of a Pawan Hans helicopter had reported seeing six paragliders flying over the JW Mariott hotel in Juhu. In another such case, a passenger had tweeted to the Mumbai police that from his window seat in Air India flight AI865 (Delhi-Mumbai), he had seen three white, triangular flying objects about 10 minutes before the plane landed at city airport on January 20.
30/01/16 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis
