For mother-daughter duo, sky is not the limit

By Probir Pramanik Jul 6, 2007, 8:20 GMT

Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) For 18-year-old Bavicca Bharathi and her 39-year-old mother Judith, both proud holders of commercial pilot licences (CPLs), the sky is certainly not the limit.

Both mother and daughter have been through the mandatory 200 hours of flying required for the CPL and are now trying to fulfil their dream to pilot a commercial flight together.

While Bavicca is trying to establish her status as India's youngest commercial pilot, mother Judith would probably be amongst the oldest woman to have acquired a pilot's licence.

'I have aspired to be a commercial pilot ever since school days. I poured hours, night after night, trying to understand the nuances of aviation metrology and air navigation along with my mother,' the slender Bavicca told IANS.

While the daughter opted for pilot training herself, it was father Pon Joseph who egged the mother on to take up the craft as well, says the gushing teenager.

'After all my mother was a gold medallist in mathematics, but she gave up pursuing her masters after marriage. So when I decided to train as a pilot, my father encouraged my mother to learn the craft as well,' said Bavicca.

Initially, the Mumbai girl decided to go to Canada for her CPL. But then she zeroed in on the Indore-based Yash Air training school, as the mother too was to accompany her.

The training last year was hard for the city dwellers, as the school is situated in the rural confines of Shripur village on the outskirts of Indore.

'Though we were cut off from the outside world with no newspapers or television, we had each other as our main support system,' said Judith.

But the dream of commandering a commercial flight together has been running into hurdles.

'Securing a job in the same airline so far has not been successful as different airlines have different age limit criteria. Some feel that Bavicca is too young, while I am too old,' said Judith, who has failed to get a call from the state-run Air India and Indian.

'Since the upper age limit for pilots for both Air India and Indian is 35, I did not get a call, though Bavicca did get interviewed by Air India.'

Interestingly, neither is eligible for the private carrier Jet Airways as the age limit is between 20 and 37 years.

The duo recently undertook a short term in a cockpit simulator at the Patak Gaga College of Aeronautics. The two are keeping their fingers crossed for their forthcoming interviews with Kingfisher Airlines.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service