This pilot is an MP who flew glider for Pune’s skydiving ace

Written by Reet Mulchandani

5,500 feet up in the air, above the Pinjore airport in Haryana, a Member of Parliament flies a powered hang glider. As sheer winds cause turbulence, the glider drops to 5,200 ft. The skydiver sitting at the back is calm. She is a veteran jumper and a Padma Shri awardee from Pune.

It’s 6 am on April 8 and it’s the first time a civilian has jumped from a powered hang glider with the pilot being an active Lok Sabha MP.

The pilot is Kirti Vardhan Singh, who represents Gonda in UP, and the diver is amongst India’s most decorated aerial athletes, Shital Mahajan. As she reaches 3000 ft, Mahajan unfurls her parachute and prepares for her landing. It’s a smooth descent. One to be repeated later that evening (4,200 ft) and again the next day (4,100 ft).

Shital Mahajan and MP Kirti Vardhan Singh at the Pinjore Airport.

“I was called by the Aero Club of India to inaugurate their National Aero modelling fellowship program. They asked me to jump, I asked ‘Kidhar se (from where)?,” says Mahajan with a chuckle. “They thought of a plane, then a helicopter and finally settled on sir’s (Singh’s) hang glider. We did a practice jump at Mankapur — a town in Gonda.”

A scion of the former Mankapur royals, MP Kirti Vardhan Singh was member of 12th and 14th Lok Sabha from Gonda as a Samajwadi Party candidate. In March 2014 he resigned and joined the BJP. He contested the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha seat from Gonda, securing it both times. Singh is also an avid flyer and an environmental activist.

When asked if he was nervous at any point, Singh says, “I hadn’t slept the entire night before the jump. I am no professional at carrying skydivers. This was a first for me- being responsible for someone else’s life.” He laughs and adds, “I was certainly very relieved after the ordeal. It was a very fulfilling experience and made me immensely proud.”

Mahajan has skydived on all seven continents. She did her first ever parachute jump over the geographical North Pole in minus 37 degree Celsius from 2,400 ft. And an accelerated free fall jump over the South Pole from 11,600 feet, in minus 38 degree Celsius. She has done two jumps in Pune — one in a sari in 2018 and the other at night from a paramotor to celebrate International Women’s Day in 2022.

The Gonda dive was to inaugurate the Aero Modelling Fellowship Program organised by Aero Club of India, which represents Federation of Aeronautical Internationale in India (FAI).

FAI is recognised by the International Olympic Committee and acts as a governing body by controlling regulations of Aero sports across the world. It conducts World Championship and World Cups of Aero sports like skydiving and parachuting along with 14 others.

Arvind Badoni, Secretary General of the ACI, says, “This jump was the first of its kind. She (Mahajan) is the first lady to have jumped off a powered hang glider which was flown by an active MP (Singh). We are also in the process of having a national record being ratified by the FAI.”