Brierfield teenager qualifies as a pilot

Pendle student 18-year-old Hassan Imtiaz has achieved something quite amazing – he has qualified as a private pilot!
Pilot Hassan Imtiaz 2 (S)Pilot Hassan Imtiaz 2 (S)
Pilot Hassan Imtiaz 2 (S)

And once he completes his A-levels at Nelson and Colne College, he aims to become a professional pilot.

Hassan, from Sycamore Rise, Brierfield, studied at Marsden Heights Community College before going to Nelson and Colne College, where he is studying maths, physics, economics and business.

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But he first started to train in flying when he was 13 at Blackpool, and he said: “I’ve gone over there regularly. I have passed my driving test and I’ve got a car now so I drive there and back so I can train. I went on Tuesday last week and took my test. It was a Piper Cherokee aircraft I was flying.”

With his examiner, he took off from Blackpool Airport and made a big flight across the North. It meant flying over to Harrogate, then Ingleton and he also flew close to Pendle, and could see Colne well.

He said: “It was a flight test that lasted two and a half hours. I was really pleased when they passed me!” Hassan is delighted to have got his Private Pilots Licence and said: “I enjoyed joining private flying training.”

However, he said: “My vision is to be a professional pilot. I am happy to work for an airline.” So he is likely to be flying something a lot bigger that a Cherokee soon.

Hassan lives with his parents. His dad is Zahir, who has a car sales facility in Bolton, and his mum is Saima, who was born in Lahore, Pakistan, before coming to live in Pendle.

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