Indian president in Su-30MKI fighter plane

Posted on: Jun. 9th, 2006 || Source: news.bbc.co.uk | E-mail Article | Print Article

The 74-year-old Indian President, APJ Kalam, has taken to the skies in a fighter jet, officials say.

Mr Kalam was a co-passenger in a two-seater Sukhoi-30 jet that flew for 30 minutes above an air force base near the city of Pune in western India.

He becomes India's oldest person - and its first president - to have flown in a fighter jet, an official said.

"The earth looked beautiful from the top," Mr Kalam, a missile scientist for most of his life, said afterwards.

"It was a fantastic experience," he said.

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