The restricted air space of Pune was breached twice on June 29 and 30 when civilian aircraft found power gliders. These gliders were close to Pune airfield but away from the boundaries of Lohegaon Air Station.
A statement released on Friday by the Indian Air Force station at Lohegaon stated, “On June 29, 2012 at 1757 hrs, Go Air 367 aircraft while landing at Pune airport reported that one canopy power glider crossed at a height of about 4,000 feet. Again on June 30, 2012 at about 0745 hrs, a white coloured glider was spotted south of Pune airfield at 1,000 feet above the ground level.” According to the information available, the glider started operating from south of the airfield, moved towards south-west and finally disappeared somewhere in south-east of the airfield. On both the occasions the gliders were outside the boundaries of the Air Force Station.
The Pune air space is restricted and permission to fly in the air space is restricted and subject to prior approvals from the concerned authorities, including the Air Traffic Control. The reason behind such a restriction is the presence of sensitive installations in Pune like Sukhoi squadrons and Southern Command of the Indian Army. In the past, several times, the intelligence agencies have alerted the administration and local security agencies about the possibility of a terror attack at the prestigious tri-services training institution — NDA at Khadakvasla. “The matter was reported to the local police and the IB for investigation,” said a spokesperson from Lohegaon Air Station.