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{{Short description|Flying school in Kerala}}
{{distinguish|Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox university
| name = Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology
| image = RAGAAT logo.png
| image_alt =
| caption =
| other_name = RAGAAT
| former_name = Kerala Flying Club<br />Kerala Aviation Training Centre
| motto = "Rule the sky, lead the world"
| type = [[State-owned]]
| established = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1959|07|14}}
| founder = [[G. V. Raja]]
| accreditation = [[Directorate General of Civil Aviation (India)|Directorate General of Civil Aviation]] (DGCA)
| chairman = [[Pinarayi Vijayan]]
| principal =
| director =
| head_label = Executive vice-chairman
| head = V. Thulasidas (former)
| total_staff =
| students = 
| address = Chacka
| city = [[Thiruvananthapuram]]
| state = [[Kerala]]
| country = India
| postalcode = 695007
| coordinates = {{Coord|8.489599|76.916024|type:edu|display=inline,title}}
| campus_type = Rural
| campus_size = 
| website = {{URL|rajivgandhiacademyforaviationtechnology.org|Official website}}
| logo =
| logo_alt =
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_label_position =
| map_size =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology''' (RAGAAT) is a [[State ownership|state-owned]] [[pilot training]] institute run by the [[Government of Kerala]], India. It is situated at the [[Thiruvananthapuram International Airport]]. Originally founded as Kerala Flying Club, a private [[flying club]] in 1959 by [[G. V. Raja]], it was bought by the state government in 1981. In 2006, the institute was approved by the [[Directorate General of Civil Aviation (India)|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 [[List of pilot training institutes in India|34 FTOs in India]]. The institute has both single and [[twin-engine]] aircraft.

==History==
It was originally founded as Kerala Flying Club, a private [[flying club]] by [[G. V. Raja]] on 14 July 1959, registered under [[Companies Act, 1956]]. It produced [[flight training|trained pilots]] and [[flight engineer]]s.<ref name="TH">{{cite news |last1=Nagarajan |first1=Saraswathy |title=Alumni of 60-year-old flying club in Thiruvananthapuram plan to chart a new flight path for the institution |url=https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/a-meet-of-pilots-and-flight-engineers-trained-at-the-60-year-old-flying-club-in-thiruvananthapuram-hopes-to-chart-a-new-flight-path-for-the-institution/article27092166.ece |access-date=21 March 2022 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=10 May 2019 |archive-date=21 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321234905/https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/a-meet-of-pilots-and-flight-engineers-trained-at-the-60-year-old-flying-club-in-thiruvananthapuram-hopes-to-chart-a-new-flight-path-for-the-institution/article27092166.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> Some of the aircraft that was part of Kerala Flying Club's inventory was [[HAL HT-2]], [[Stinson L-5 Sentinel]], [[HAL Pushpak]], [[de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk]], [[de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver]], [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain]]. The flying club was briefly closed in 1967.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sankar |first1=Dr. Achuth |last2=Sankar |first2=Adithya |title=VANCHIYOOR VIGNETTES: Local History of a Bygone Village |date=15 April 2021 |publisher=Adithya Sankar |isbn=978-93-5426-581-5 |page=164 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XYpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA164 |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref> Its name was changed to Kerala Aviation Training Centre (KATC) in 1980. In 1981, the [[Government of Kerala]] bought the institute to its direct control. In 2006, after the approval of the [[Directorate General of Civil Aviation (India)|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.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

==Campus==
The campus is situated within the [[Thiruvananthapuram International Airport]] compound. The institute also has an off-campus centre at the [[Kannur International Airport]].<ref name=offcampus>{{cite news|last=Ramjith|first=N. P. C.|title=Get ready to study aviation at Kannur airport|url=https://www.onmanorama.com/career-and-campus/top-news/2019/12/11/get-ready-study-aviation-at-kannur-airport.html|access-date=16 April 2022 |work=[[Onmanorama]]|date=11 December 2019}}</ref> RAGAAT is the only Flying Training Organisation (FTO) in Kerala approved by the [[Directorate General of Civil Aviation (India)|DGCA]].<ref>{{cite news |author1=Express News Service |title=Stringent norms in place for drone operation |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2019/sep/30/stringent-norms-in-place-for-drone-operation-2040985.html |access-date=21 March 2022 |work=[[The New Indian Express]] |date=30 September 2019 |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920205238/https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2019/sep/30/stringent-norms-in-place-for-drone-operation-2040985.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It is also the only [[pilot training]] institute in Kerala.<ref name="TH1"/>

As of 2019, the institute has four single-engine [[Cessna 172]] aircraft, with two having a [[glass cockpit]], and additionally a twin-engine [[Piper PA-34 Seneca|Piper Seneca V]] for advanced training.<ref name="TH"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Abraham |first1=Leena |title=Uyare effect, girls make beeline to flying school |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/280519/uyare-effect-girls-make-beeline-to-flying-school.html |access-date=21 March 2022 |work=[[Deccan Chronicle]] |date=28 May 2019 |archive-date=21 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321104448/https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/280519/uyare-effect-girls-make-beeline-to-flying-school.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Among the total of 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]], built at ₹4 crore, near the aircraft maintenance base at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, which can accommodate up to 10 [[trainer aircraft]].<ref name="TH1">{{cite news |last1=Radhakrishnan |first1=S. Anil |title=New option for pilot trainees |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/new-option-for-pilot-trainees/article6976792.ece |access-date=21 March 2022 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=10 March 2015 |archive-date=21 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321130620/https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/new-option-for-pilot-trainees/article6976792.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[commercial pilot licence]] (CPL) trainees will be given additional class in twin-engine aircraft as an add-on.<ref>{{cite news |last1=S. |first1=Anasooya |title=RAGAAT to offer flight training in twin-engine aircraft |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/ragaat-to-offer-flight-training-in-twin-engine-aircraft/articleshow/69403685.cms |access-date=21 March 2022 |work=[[The Times of India]] |date=20 May 2019 |archive-date=21 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321120457/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/ragaat-to-offer-flight-training-in-twin-engine-aircraft/articleshow/69403685.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2012, the government began construction of a new building complex for the academy inside the [[Thiruvananthapuram International Airport]] after the old one, including a [[hangar]], was demolished for allocating space for construction of a new terminal and an [[Air India]] 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.<ref>{{cite news|author=Times News Network|title=Rajiv Gandhi aviation academy to get new building soon|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Rajiv-Gandhi-aviation-academy-to-get-new-building-soon/articleshow/12434542.cms|access-date=16 April 2022|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=28 March 2012}}</ref>

In March 2016, the then [[United Democratic Front (Kerala)|UDF]]-led [[Government of Kerala]] launched an [[air ambulance]] service exclusively for speedy [[organ transplantation]] 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 [[Left Democratic Front|LDF]]-led government decommissioned the project, citing that it was not cost effective or viable.<ref>{{cite news |last1=G. |first1=Rajiv |title=Financial troubles ground govt air ambulance project |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/financial-troubles-ground-govt-air-ambulance-project/articleshow/53317791.cms |access-date=21 March 2022 |work=[[The Times of India]] |date=21 July 2016 |archive-date=21 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321120456/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/financial-troubles-ground-govt-air-ambulance-project/articleshow/53317791.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2018, the academy began [[cross-country flying]] to Kannur International Airport, until then, they used to fly to [[Madurai Airport]], [[Mangalore International Airport]] or [[Calicut International Airport]] for cross-country flight training.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Times News Network |title=Trainer aircraft land at Kannur |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/trainer-aircraft-land-at-kannur/articleshow/67016623.cms |access-date=2 May 2022 |work=[[The Times of India]] |date=9 December 2018}}</ref> In 2019, RAAGAT began admitting students from other flying schools for flying training when students from their own batch are undergoing ground training.<ref>{{cite news |last1=S. |first1=Anasooya |title=Ragaat to admit students from other flying schools |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/ragaat-to-admit-students-from-other-flying-schools/articleshow/71131195.cms |access-date=2 May 2022 |work=[[The Times of India]] |date=15 September 2019}}</ref> The academy also opened an off-campus centre at the Kannur International Airport in 2019. The first flight was flagged off by [[List of chief ministers of Kerala|chief minister]] [[Pinarayi Vijayan]].<ref name=offcampus/>

==Courses==
* [[Commercial Pilot License]] (IR/ME)
* [[Private Pilot License]]
* 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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/trainer-hit-me-face-injuring-my-eyes-trainee-pilot-approaches-kerala-govt-39903 | title='Trainer hit me on the face, injuring my eyes,' Trainee pilot approaches Kerala govt | date=6 March 2016 }}</ref>
In 2022, a female trainee accused the chief flying instructor K T Rajendran of attempting to molest her mid-flight inside the cockpit during a training session.<ref>[https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2022/may/22/no-action-on-sexual-harassment-complaint-student-takes-off-from-aviation-school-2456429.html No action on sexual harassment complaint, student takes off from aviation school]</ref><ref>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/womens-panel-seeks-report-from-aviation-academy/articleshow/91775572.cms Women’s panel seeks report from aviation academy ]</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://malayalam.oneindia.com/news/kerala/sexual-harassment-at-rajiv-gandhi-aviation-academy-for-aviation-technology-girl-s-voice-message-o-338666.html?story=2 | title=എന്നെ സെക്ഷ്വലി ഹരാസ് ചെയ്ത ആള്‍ കൂളായി നടക്കുകയാണ്; പറ്റുന്നില്ല; പെണ്‍കുട്ടിയുടെ ശബ്ദസന്ദേശം പുറത്ത് | date=21 May 2022 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of pilot training institutes in India]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://rajivgandhiacademyforaviationtechnology.org}}

[[Category:Aviation schools in India]]
[[Category:Memorials to Rajiv Gandhi]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Thiruvananthapuram]]
[[Category:1959 establishments in Kerala]]

Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology - Revision history

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