Indian red tape clips wings of solar plane
AHMEDABAD: A pilot trying to make history by flying a solar-powered plane around the world launched an angry attack on Indian bureaucracy on Wednesday after a lengthy hold-up in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
“The delay is (because of) of administration, papers, stamps,” Bertrand Piccard said at Ahmedabad airport. He is one of two pilots taking turns to steer Solar Impulse-2 (SI-2), which landed in Ahmedabad last Tuesday in its bid to become the first plane to fly around the world solely powered by the sun.
SI-2 was scheduled to leave for Varanasi on Sunday before heading to Myanmar but it could only leave on Wednesday morning, piloted by Andre Borschberg, after delays blamed on bad weather. Its support team, including Piccard, remained stuck at Ahmedabad hours after takeoff.
“I’m not here to accuse anybody. I just say that since the last five days we are trying to get all the stamps and every day (they) say tomorrow,” said Piccard. “Since five days we are desperate to get all the stamps…”
Biocon chief Kiran Mazumadar Shaw took a swipe at the government following the pilot’s tirade. “Hope (the government) heard the solar plane’s pilot commenting on bureaucratic delays n cumbersome paperwork...Red tape and petty officialdom are stalling progress,” she tweeted.
The support team finally got the go-ahead to leave and tweeted a photograph of a smiling Piccard holding up his passport with stamps on it. The team coordinated SI-2’s landing at Varanasi late in the evening.