MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, Sept 30: Jharkhand civil aviation department is in the final stages of starting pilot-training programs including Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) within the next two months, Jharkhand Civil Aviation Director Captain SP Sinha told lagatar24.com.
“We are working on the final details of commencing both CPL and Private Pilot Licence (PPL) courses in the state at Ranchi, Dumka, Dhanbad and Deoghar. Chief Minister Hemant Soren will launch the pilot-training courses in a month or two,” Sinha said.
It may be noted that currently there is no government-run flying school in Jharkhand and in the private sector, barring one in Jamshedpur – Alchemist Aviation, all flying schools provide only classroom training and send the students outside for flying hours.
To begin the flight training programs and other aviation-related activities, the Jharkhand cabinet on Thursday approved the formation of a society under a special flying institute committee to be headed by Civil Aviation Principal Secretary Vandana Dadel.
“The society will be a single umbrella body for all operations, maintenance and training activities related to aviation. It will be run by a board of directors with a Managing Director. We already run training in gliding at Ranchi, Dumka, Dhanbad and Giridih,” he said.
The state government has also been providing training in aero-modelling, the director said. The cabinet has approved the proposed committee’s memorandum of association (MoA) for conducting all ongoing and future aviation-related training programs.
The commencement of state-run pilot-training programs will be a major booster for the youths of the state who generally go outside the state, particularly Delhi, to get the CPL. Centre’s regional connectivity UDAN scheme has increased the demand for pilots.
Ravi Bhushan Pathak, Operations Manager, Alchemist Aviation, said, “Ours is an old flying school in Jamshedpur that we took over and got approval in 2018. Since then we have trained more than 40 commercial pilots and about 10 private pilots.
“There is little awareness about our school in the state. The government’s entry will help the state become the leading flight training hub in eastern India as there are very few players in this part of the country. We can attract students from outside the state.”
The Jamshedpur flying academy has five aircrafts – three Cessna 152, one Cessna 172 and one Seneca Piper. Of the 200 flying hours required for CPL, 150 hours is done from Sonari aerodrome, and for the cross-country flying hours different airports in the country including the Ranchi airport are used, Pathak said. They charge Rs 30 lakh for CPL and Rs 10 lakh to Rs 12 lakh for PPL.
