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
fired by terrorist who hijacked the plane soon after it took off from Mumbai, enroute New York via Frankfurt, and forced it to land at Karachi. Showing exemplary courage Bhanot helped the pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer to escape and also hid the passports of all the passengers so that terrorist could not distinguish between American and non-American citizens.
During the 17-hour ordeal, she managed to open the emergency door and flung the chute and helped a number of passengers to escape from the aircraft.
Former Orissa Chief Minister and an avid aviator Biju Patnaik was also remembered for his contributions to the civil aviation sector. After being entrusted to evacuate Sultan Sjahrir, the Prime Minister of Indonesia during the country's struggle for independence from the Dutch rule, he flew to Java and brought him aboard from Java islands on his own Dacota and reached India via Singapore.
Patnaik was awarded with Indonesia's highest award - Bhoomi Putra, for his act of bravery.Ravi also paid tribute to industrialist and Chairman emeritus of Raymonds Group and a former Sherrif of Mumbai Dr Vijaypat Singhania.
Singhania holds the world record for highest altitude gained travelling in a hot air balloon. He was 67 when he made this record. He also holds a world record for his solo microlight flight from the United Kingdom to India in 1998.
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