First Batch Of KISTAA Trainees Put Through Paces
January 06, 2010 18:17 PM
KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 6 (Bernama) -- The Islamic College of Science and Technology Aviation Academy (KISTAA) here has admitted the first batch of 18 trainee pilots, including a woman.
Its chief executive officer, Zaidi Yusof said the training stint would not only focus on piloting skills but also on professionalism and good conduct.
He said the trainees would undergo 18 months training and log 200 flying hours to get a commercial pilot licence.
"They will attend classes in the first three months before learning to fly the planes in April," he told reporters after receiving the trainees at the Sultan Mahmud airport here Wednesday.
He said KISTAA, which has 15 pilots, would be using three Italian-made Tecnam aircraft for the training.
Zaidi said KISTAA plans to have four intakes yearly and increase the number of aircraft to between 20 and 30 with an allocation of RM50 million in two years' time in its expansion plan.
A lone female trainee, Wan Nadia Fatin Wan Mohd Abdul Amir, 20, said she was encouraged by her father, who is an aviation instructor in Kota Baharu, to become a pilot.
Wan Nadia, who is from Kemaman, Terengganu, said she had attended a flying lesson at the Integrated Aviation Academy in Ipoh and logged five flying hours.
Another trainee, Mubin Syafiq Abdul Azri, 22, from Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, said he wanted to follow the footsteps of his grandfather, who was a pilot.
Mubin Syafiq said he had attended a plane maintenance course and chose to learn flying at KISTAA instead of in the United Kingdom as the fees were cheaper.
-- BERNAMA