bangalore even as theres widespread alarm over the lack of safety precautions in skydiving following the death of v ramya in salem last week theres another concern bothering those who love aerosports excessive security concerns as joel koechlin founder and former owner of raj hamsa ultralight pvt ltd which manufactures microlight aircraft in bangalore says flying is now a crime all over the world and more so in india this is due to the post911 security paranoia in india the authorities are just not issuing security clearances to those who would like to fly microlight aircraft even a hobby flyer is viewed as a potential terrorist the frenchman who has studied aeronautical engineering and commercial photography came to india during his travels to see the world he quite liked auroville in pondicherry and set up the company there in 1980 with financial support from jrd tata he would take aviation enthusiasts from bangalore to ooty for sorties on his microlights the company would during the good years sell over 100 microlights a year and most of them would be sent to overseas customers after terrorists crashed jetliners into the twin towers in 2001 security agencies suddenly started viewing all light aircraft with deep suspicion says koechlin in india the authorities wont tell you its banned but will drag their feet over issuing the security clearance which effectively means you cant fly he sold the company in 2011 when he realized that interest in the sport was waning and the orders were just not coming in down to five at its worst phase the sport will die a slow death if youngsters dont take to it right now only a few of us who received our security clearances long ago can actually fly now if anyone asks me how i should build and fly microlights i tell them go and do something else he says