AAI grounds Flying Club’s exhibition

November 15: For nearly a year now, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has nursed a dream of holding an international `Air Festival 20...

November 15: For nearly a year now, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has nursed a dream of holding an international `Air Festival 2000′ at the Bombay Flying Club at Juhu to step up awareness among the youth about aviation. But the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has grounded that dream on the ground that the exhibition will pose a security risk.

The reasoning of the AAI, delivered from the headquarters at Delhi, have put paid to months of planning, which included coordinating with the armed forces to exhibit different aircraft at the venue, and a flypast. A bitter President of the FIP, Captain M R Wadia, told Express Newsline, “Though we have yet to receive a written rejection from AAI in New Delhi, it has already been officially conveyed to us on telephone that the Air Festival 2000 cannot take place at the Bombay Flying Club on the flimsy ground that it poses a `security risk’. It is ridiculous!”

Captain Wadia added that keeping the general profile of the festival in mind, the ideal locationwas the flying club at the Juhu airport. “However, the AAI has completely ignored the social and public interest of the project and has simply narrowed down to an unreasonable `security risk’ issue,” he commented.

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The AAI Regional Executive Director, V K Kalra, confirmed that FIP’s demand for the air fest had been turned down. “I have conveyed the message from our Delhi Headquarters to the Flying Club. The proposal was basically turned down for several reasons that include setting up of food stalls on the BFC ground, demand for car parking space, and an unlimited access of Juhu Airport to the public,” Kalra told Express Newsline.

However, Captain Wadia argued that they would have ensured no littering on the ground so as not to attract birds. “Since the scheduled three-day exhibition in January 2000 was to educate the public about various career options in aviation, the functions of Air Traffic Control (ATC), and also to exhibit planes and engine cut-outs; the presence of public was but obvious.

In fact, the Flying Club has been used in the past for film shootings and the general public was also invited for the 50th commemoration of the club,” he reasoned.

Consumer activist M R Pai has also dashed off a letter to the airport authority stating that: “Even as a lay person I am interested in the safety of civil aviation. This is typical of the bureaucracy in India which is unable to do such constructive activities on its own but prevents voluntary activities in service of the people.” Pai later told Express Newsline that since the flying club was a non-profit organisation, they were heavily depending on the government on this grand project.

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Several international aviation bodies had also pledged their support to the air fest. Apart from flypast, some other attractions would have been motivational air displays like sky diving, hang gliding, para gliding and joy rides in fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft.

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