Exposure Visit to Aircraft Maintenance Unit

- an article by Ms. Vineeta Thomas - a senior team member at Mantra4Change

“If birds can glide for long periods of time, then… why can't I?” rightly said by Mr. Orville Wright. Travelling by a “flight” is now a matter of convenience more than luxury. Over the next few years, a step-change in (i) the affordability of air travel and (ii) the access to air travel are expected to result in 270 million air passengers by 2020, making India the third largest aviation market globally. (LL, 2013)

On 27^th February 2016, approximately 50 students of one of our partner schools visited Airworks Pvt Ltd. at Hosur to interact with the aircraft maintenance engineers as well as to see the aircrafts at their hangar.

It was quite an intriguing experience for the students and the teachers of the school to visit the maintenance unit and watch the aircrafts so closely. The students were divided into batches of two and each group was led by a senior maintenance engineer. The students were thrilled to board the Spicejet Aircraft and see the different sections so closely. The students coming from a low income background have only heard of an aircraft, seen it in movies and photographs, but with the help of Airworks , the dream of witnessing and experiencing an aircraft so closely came true.

“Ma’am I feel so proud to visit the aircraft” was one of the responses by a grade 9^th student. The students were explained about the functions of various parts of the aircraft, with a brief explanation about the engine, the various tools and the mechanisms. 

“Ma’am, I never knew the plane can fly without pilot” was a statement by a grade 10^th student, who was surprised to learn that planes had an autopilot mode. 

More than informative, the visit was inspiring for the students as one of the engineers interacting with the students was Ms. Bhavya, who strongly motivated the female students to pursue their dreams and most students came out feeling very inspired and expressed their admiration for her. She beautifully connected their knowledge of basic Physics, while she explained the propeller and the engine. Mr Anthony, who was leading a separate batch, motivated the students on how true perseverance can lead to success in any industry. The teachers accompanying the students were equally excited to experience the interaction. 

The students walked away carrying confidence and admiration ,for the young engineers working on the aircraft; it helped the students learn about a new avenue for their careers.

A special mention of Mr Unni Kuttan of Airworks, without whose support this visit might not have been possible.