Alia Tabassum is all set to become the first commercial pilot from Malegaon. She is the daughter of Shafeeque Ahmed who is a weaver.
Alia completed her schooling from Iram Primary School and Malegaon Girls’ High School in the field of science. Right from her childhood, she wanted to be a pilot. She initially completed her aviation from Madha Pradesh Flying Club (MPFC) where she was awarded by the student pilot License in June this year.
She is currently undergoing her aviation training at Sahil Khurana Aviation Academy in New Delhi to become the commercial pilot. She has so far been trained to pilot 02, 04, 06 and 08 seater planes. She will be the first commercial pilot of Malegaon once she completes her training
In November last year she has successfully cleared her first-semester exam and currently, she is focusing on her final exam which is expected to be held in November 2018.
The driving force behind the idea of becoming the pilot was her father, who was humiliated at Mumbai airport after which he decided that someone from his family must join the aviation industry and become a pilot.
“I was travelling to Saudi Arabia with my wife in the year 2005 to perform Hajj. But unfortunately, we reached the Mumbai airport late and were not allowed to board the plane despite our continues request. The staff was refusing to allow us from boarding the plane. What hurts the most was that the staff misbehaved with us despite the fact that we were going to perform Haj and were wearing ihram”, Shafeeque, Father of Alia said.
Then all of the sudden I saw the pilot who was surrounded by some crew members, they were going near the desk. When he saw us requesting the immigration staff, he asked them to clear our papers and allow us to board the plane as there was still some time left for take-off”, Shafeeque said.
“I was glad that we were able to fly to Saudi Arabia and perform Haj because of the intervention of the pilot which was totally unexpected, I could not resist myself from hugging the pilot and repeatedly extending our gratitude to him”, he added.
Shafeeque said onboard the flight the pilot invited him inside the cockpit. He was completely overwhelmed by the pilot’s gesture. “And It was at that point of time I decided that someone from my family should become a pilot”, he said.
SIASAT NEWS