Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology (RAGAAT) is a state-owned pilot training institute run by the

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior mini ...

, India. It is situated at the

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Thiruvananthapuram International Airport , is an international airport which serves Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. Established in 1932, it is the first airport in the state of Kerala and fifth international airport of ...

. Originally founded as Kerala Flying Club, a private

flying club A flying club or aero club is a not-for-profit, member-run organization that provides its members with affordable access to aircraft. Many clubs also provide flight training, flight planning facilities, pilot supplies and associated services, as ...

in 1959 by

G. V. Raja Lt. Col. P. R. Godavarma Raja (13 October 1908 – 30 April 1971), often referred to as G. V. Raja, was an Indian sports and tourism promoter and administrator, pilot, sportsman and Sanskrit scholar . He took special care in inspiring the youth ...

, it was bought by the state government in 1981. In 2006, the institute was approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as a Flying Training Organisation (FTO). As of 2022, RAGAAT is the only pilot training institute in Kerala and one among the 34 FTOs in India. The institute has both single and

twin-engine A twinjet or twin-engine jet is a jet aircraft powered by two engines. A twinjet is able to fly well enough to land with a single working engine, making it safer than a single-engine aircraft in the event of failure of an engine. Fuel efficien ...

aircraft.

History

It was originally founded as Kerala Flying Club, a private

on 14 July 1959, registered under

Companies Act, 1956 The Companies Act 1956 was an Act of the Parliament of India, enacted in 1956, which enabled companies to be formed by registration, and set out the responsibilities of companies, their directors and secretaries. It was repealed and replaced b ...

. It produced trained pilots and flight engineers. Some of the aircraft that was part of Kerala Flying Club's inventory was HAL HT-2, Stinson L-5 Sentinel,

HAL Pushpak The Hindustan HUL-26 ''Pushpak'' was a 1950s Indian two-seat cabin monoplane designed and built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, based on the Aeronca Chief. Construction and operation The Pushpak was a high-wing braced monoplane with a fixed ta ...

, de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk,

de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined high-wing propeller-driven short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and manufactured by de Havilland Canada. It has been primarily operated as a bush plane and has been use ...

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained ...

. The flying club was briefly closed in 1967. Its name was changed to Kerala Aviation Training Centre (KATC) in 1980. In 1981, the

bought the institute to its direct control. In 2006, after the approval of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) it was rechristened as Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology, registered under Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955.

Campus

The campus is situated within the

compound. The institute also has an off-campus centre at the

Kannur International Airport Kannur International Airport is an airport serving the North Malabar region of Kerala, Kodagu and Mysore districts of Karnataka and Mahé district of Puducherry in India. It is located east of Kannur, and east of Thalassery, near the muni ...

. RAGAAT is the only Flying Training Organisation (FTO) in Kerala approved by the DGCA. It is also the only pilot training institute in Kerala. As of 2019, the institute has four single-engine

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.glass cockpit, and additionally a twin-engine Piper Seneca V for advanced training. Among the total five aircraft, a U. S.-made Cessna 172-R bought in 2014 cost ₹1.7 crore and another U. S.-made six-seat Piper Seneca V bought in the same year cost ₹6 crore. The academy has its own

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

, built at ₹4 crore, near the aircraft maintenance base at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, which can accommodate up to 10

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

. The

commercial pilot licence A commercial pilot licence (CPL) is a type of pilot licence that permits the holder to act as a pilot of an aircraft and be paid for their work. Different licenses are issued for the major aircraft categories: airplanes, airships, balloons, glide ...

(CPL) trainees will be given additional class in twin-engine aircraft as an add-on. In 2012, the government began construction of a new building complex for the academy inside the

after the old one, including a

, was demolished for allocating space for construction of a new terminal and an

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...

engineering base. Classes were then held outside the airport in a rented building and a temporary hangar in the airport. The government allotted 2.71 acres of land to the academy, to be built near the Air India Hangar. In March 2016, the then UDF-led

launched an

air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

service exclusively for speedy

organ transplantation Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transpor ...

transportation using the twin-engine aircraft of the academy, an MoU was signed between RAGAAT and the Kerala Network for Organ Sharing. However, in July that year, the newly elect LDF-led government decommissioned the project, citing that it was not cost effective or viable. In 2018, the academy began

cross-country flying Cross-country flying ( XC flying) is a type of distance flying which is performed in a powered aircraft on legs over a given distance and in operations between two points using navigational techniques; and an unpowered aircraft (paraglider, hang g ...

to Kannur International Airport, until then, they used to fly to

Madurai Airport Madurai Airport is a customs airport serving Madurai and its adjoining districts in Tamil Nadu, India. It is the 36th busiest airport in India, both in terms of passengers handled and aircraft movement. The airport is located near State Highwa ...

Mangalore International Airport Mangalore International Airport , is an international airport serving the coastal city of Mangalore, India. It is one of the only two international airports in Karnataka, the other being Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore. Mangalo ...

or Calicut International Airport for cross-country flight training. In 2019, RAAGAT began admitting students from other flying schools for flying training when students from their own batch are undergoing ground training. The academy also opened an off-campus centre at the Kannur International Airport in 2019. The first flight was flagged off by

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian Communist politician who is the current Chief Minister of Kerala, serving since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), he is the longest-serving sec ...

Courses

* Commercial Pilot License (IR/ME) *

Private Pilot License A private pilot licence (PPL) or, in the United States, a private pilot certificate, is a type of pilot licence that allows the holder to act as pilot in command of an aircraft privately (not for remuneration). The licence requirements are dete ...

* Students Pilot License * Instrument Rating * Multi-Engine Rating * Foreign License Conversion

Controversies

In 2016, a trainee at the institution alleged that he faced casteist slur and physical assault from a trainer. In 2022, a female trainee accused the chief flying instructor K T Rajendran of attempting to molest her mid-flight inside cockpit during a training session.

References

External links