Zoroastrians Abroad
Dastur's determination
A childhood passion for aeroplanes, indulged by his parents Shernaz and Darius, has fructified into a career in aerospace engineering for Mehernosh Dastur who is currently working with AeroScott Engineering at the Edinburgh Airport as a technician in aircraft, hangar and line maintenance, reveals a write-up from Bombay Parsi Punchayet chief executive officer Behram Dastur.
Mehernosh successfully pursued a BTech National Diploma in aerospace engineering from the Emirates Aviation College in Dubai, UAE, after completing his Higher Secondary Certificate examination from Bombay’s Elphinstone College. Throughout the course he studied and worked on various jet planes of the Emirates Airlines, notes the release.
A diploma, with distinction, in hand, Mehernosh proceeded to the UK to join Air Service Training Limited in Perth, Scotland to procure the Aircraft Maintenance License, JAR 66B1.1. The two-year course entailed the completion of 13 prescribed modules plus on the job training with BASCO, Bournemouth and AeroScott Engineering, Edinburgh. With an average 87 percent score, Dastur acquired the Certificate of Recognition of Approved Training in 2004.
Anahita and Mehernosh Dastur: determined to succeed
Even as a student in Bombay’s Campion High School Mehernosh drew aeroplanes to scale so Darius says he enrolled him in an aero modeling course. There he learnt to make a balsa wood model glider "which was the turning point in his career.” The lad asked for a remote control aeroplane – a very expensive hobby which cost his merchant mariner father in the vicinity of Rs 40,000. "When the model crashed he would repair it, thinking more like an engineer than a pilot!” recalls Darius. At that point in time there was scant demand for pilots in India so father and son searched on the web for suitable openings and found that the world needed approximately four times as many engineers as pilots.
Apart from aero modeling — Mehernosh continues to enjoy building and flying remote control aircraft — the engineer enjoys amateur dramatics, photography, sports and karate.
The family has a history of transport professionals. Darius’ father was a train driver on the GIP (Central) Railway thundering back and forth between Bombay and Poona. He made no fuss when Darius preferred to sail the seas. And Mehernosh, in turn, showed no inclination for the life of a seafarer, says Darius. (Indeed, it is his daughter Anahita who is afloat as manager of the Wind Jammer Restaurant on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Rhapsody of the Seas after advanced study in catering/hospitality in Switzerland, completing her course with five gold medals!) But aerospace engineering is an expensive field to enter. Darius says he told his son, "You’ll get only one chance. If you flunk it, forget it…”
◆ ◆ ◆
From the archive