India's first civil plane Saras takes to the skies after nearly a decade

The 14-seater civil aircraft programme, named after the Indian crane Saras, was conceived in the 1990's as a joint project between India and Russia.

A prototype of Saras, the country's first indigenously developed civil aeroplane, flew on Wednesday for the first time in nearly a decade, kindling hope of revival of the civil aircraft programme.

The Saras (PT-1N), an upgraded version of the first prototype, took to the skies here for about 40 minutes, which a scientist at the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), the design agency, said had met the expectation. Piloted by Wing Commander U P Singh and Group Captains R V Panicker and K P Bhat. The three belong to the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment, the air force's school for test pilots