Saji Thomas, a native of Thattakuzha in Thodupuzha, is deaf and dumb by birth and has studied till seventh class only. But, his dreams fly so high that he made a small aircraft, which was flown successfully by a retired wing commander of the Indian Air Force a few days back.
However, Saji’s attempts to get the necessary documents, which would help him promote the aircraft, have not been successful.
S K J Nair, who was an instructor with the Indian Air Force and a test pilot of the MIG 21 at the Hindustan Aeronautics, had flown the aircraft to a height of about 20 ft at his private runway at Ambasamudram in Tamil Nadu. He said he could not lift the plane beyond a particular level as it had no permission to become airborne. He said the plane could be flown at a higher level only after getting the relevant papers from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Mariya, Saji’s wife, told Express that the family has been struggling to find funds to get the licence. She said the family had personally met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and P T Thomas MP, requesting for support from the government to promote Saji’s venture.
But, there has been no reply from anyone so far, she said.The family had spent about seven years and invested around `10 lakh to develop the plane.
21/04/14 New Indian Express
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However, Saji’s attempts to get the necessary documents, which would help him promote the aircraft, have not been successful.
S K J Nair, who was an instructor with the Indian Air Force and a test pilot of the MIG 21 at the Hindustan Aeronautics, had flown the aircraft to a height of about 20 ft at his private runway at Ambasamudram in Tamil Nadu. He said he could not lift the plane beyond a particular level as it had no permission to become airborne. He said the plane could be flown at a higher level only after getting the relevant papers from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Mariya, Saji’s wife, told Express that the family has been struggling to find funds to get the licence. She said the family had personally met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and P T Thomas MP, requesting for support from the government to promote Saji’s venture.
But, there has been no reply from anyone so far, she said.The family had spent about seven years and invested around `10 lakh to develop the plane.
21/04/14 New Indian Express
