Spotters Arrested in New Delhi, India

[T-Bird76]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100216/wl ... ainairport (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100216/wl_uk_afp/indiabritainairport)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 578911.cms (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Two-British-nationals-detained-with-suspicious-gadgets/articleshow/5578911.cms)

Stephen Hampston and Steven Martin both of A.net were detained.

[PhilDernerJr]

You folks in the forums are FAST. haha.

Not too much different from the above links, but we'll be following this one closely of course.

:arrow: Two Planespotters Arrested in India for Suspicious Behavior (http://nycaviation.com/2010/02/16/two-planespotters-arrested-in-india-for-suspicious-behavior/)

[NLovis]

Well it happens. Sure sounds like spotters to me. To phil were only fast when we want to be :mrgreen:

[SengaB]

That's my car in your Pic Phil :)

Senga

[Mayi757]

You folks in the forums are FAST. haha.

Not too much different from the above links, but we'll be following this one closely of course.

:arrow: Two Planespotters Arrested in India for Suspicious Behavior (http://nycaviation.com/2010/02/16/two-planespotters-arrested-in-india-for-suspicious-behavior/)


Planespotters wear Levi's! is what I thought when I saw that photo :wink:

Don't recognize that spotting location though.

[Matt Molnar]

Any idea if it is legal to carry this sort of equipment in India?

[moose135]

Don't recognize that spotting location though.
Cargo Plaza, 13L arrivals, back when it was open. That's an old picture!


Any idea if it is legal to carry this sort of equipment in India?
That's a good question, laws in India may be very different from what we are used to. If you are spotting at an unfamiliar location, it's always a good idea to check out the local laws.

I did find one quote in the Yahoo article to be amusing:

Other media reports said the men were carrying...equipment for tracking exchanges between pilots and air traffic control...
I suspect most of us would recognize that as a radio...

ETA: From this story (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7028626.ece), it looks as if they have been released following the investigation.

[SengaB]

India has been known for cracking the whip on aviation photography and coming down hard of people caught doing it. Only recently has there been a change in perception among aviation photographers. I guess some of these people push too far too fast.

Senga

[hiss srq]

WOW...... India is not the place to get in a wrangle with law enforcement either from what I have been reading in my research recently. So much for spotting ambitions if I move there.

[NLovis]

WOW...... India is not the place to get in a wrangle with law enforcement either from what I have been reading in my research recently. So much for spotting ambitions if I move there.
then dont move :borat:

[PhilDernerJr]

Planespotters wear Levi's! is what I thought when I saw that photo :wink:

Don't recognize that spotting location though.

I wear American Eagle or Lucky. :-p

The location is a non-public spot that is no longer accessible to spotters anymore.

[T-Bird76]

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/feb/ ... booked.htm (http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/feb/16/uk-duo-cliamed-to-be-plane-spotting-to-be-booked.htm)

Update on the situation in India. The Indian gov't wants to use these guys as an example to detere future spotters...glad freedom is alive and well in India.

[hiss srq]

WOW! Just wow........ This is obsurd. If they are booked on anything I would love to put together an organized movement on the issue. Any chance of me going to that sub continent are squashed.

[Mayi757]

While the so called "Indian experts" pretend to be onto something cracking down on British aviation geeks, the real terrorists are laughing at this.

[Vishal Jolapara]

Thats the f***-up, there are no real experts whatsoever, if there were then they would've seen through these two spotters.

Its like exhibiting figure-skating to the Tutsi Tribe in Rwanda, there's just no connection, no one will get anywhere with explaining/understanding.

Eventually the British High-Commission will step-in when the Delhi Police make a big enough fool of themselves & parcel the pair on a BA 744 or Jet Airways 77W to LHR.

Except the Taj Mahal, there would be only a handful of other places where people wont look at you for just holding a camera in public view !!! Its pathetic - thats India for you of today.

You cant blame them as there's been a constant flow of terror attacks here in the last 5 years.
Just before these 2 were caught, there was a major blast in Pune which just upped the terror ante.

If anything, i think they can book these two for stupidity, i dont know what more to say.

I'm infact glad they didnt follow the routine etiquette of emailing the local spotters as thats what the police is looking into right now.

That still dosent rule-out our asses being whooped, they (cops) can just make-up any BS & hold us responsible, we're just very disappointingly/unenthusiastically waiting to see where this circus heads to :oops:

[NLovis]

This is bull. Being used as an example? They did nothing wrong. What is the example? How we can be jacka**es?

[Vishal Jolapara]

This is bull.Yes it is !

Being used as an example? They did nothing wrong.No they didnt, BUT they were doing it at a very Wrong time in this part of the world.

What is the example? How we can be jacka**es?
Dude, your is a very impulsive post, R-E-A-D my previous post

Its just something Indians are NOT used to, Period !

I've spotted for both longer & with greater frequency in the Indian Sub-Continent than any man I know of.
HOWEVER - T-H-E ONLY time >> I << ever saw an AirNav Box in India was in 2008 when ironically i was headed to the rooftop cafe of a famous 5 Star Hotel here in BOM.

It overlooks the threshold of rwy 14 & luckily then they were using 14 that day.
I was going to meet Sam Chui & John Adlard who had come to India just for that & i had a friend - an Irish Gentleman who was on contract with Kingfisher along with me who was also spotting during his tenure in India so obviously he knew us local spotters & vice-versa.

We go up the rooftop cafe & there was another British Chap, crew of FlyGlobespan or First Choice or something who was on a charter to Goa & had just hopped to BOM to spot, he was operating his 15" Laptop with all spotters crowding around it, i was like Porno ? :D
Firstly couldnt see anything as it was afternoon & the Sun here is a bit more generous at the Equator than NY so took my eyes a few seconds to makeout what was happening, suddenly i see registration numbers approaching a dot.

http://www.airnavsystems.com/images/ANRB/3DShots6_425.gifhttp://lolfed.com/wp-content/uploads/borat-very-nice.jpg

THATS IT !
:arrow: That's the only time i saw it, never saw it before, never saw it since.

However, WE DID NOT HAVE A DO NOT DISTURB SIGN AROUND US (as these 2 gentlemen had reportedly put-up outside their door & not emerged in 24 hours which was past their checkout time - again as per news reports)
We were in the open, in front of everyone, cameras in hand & would appear to anyone as just general fun-loving folks as everyone was having a great time, there were abundant smiles all round & it was just a generally happy atmosphere - Duh !

So, just as you gave your shock an outlet by posting your dismay in words - he would've contacted his Supervisor & .................

Believe me, i'm with you on the wtf part.
But the circumstances that led to this could've easily been prevented.

Having said the above, i give my mom a heart-attack EVERYTIME i go spotting, she dosent let me & i have to convince her well, coax her to let me go.

I honestly feel very bad for the duo's family & friends who do not know what to expect next having their loved one in a legal tiff in a foreign country.

I can only hope that logic & commonsense prevails.

- Vishal

[Mayi757]

Its like exhibiting figure-skating to the Tutsi Tribe in Rwanda, there's just no connection, no one will get anywhere with explaining/understanding.

:lol:

Vishal, your insight spotting are interesting. I wouldn't have a laptop out like that, it would really really suck to have it confiscated in a foreign country never know if you'll ever get it back. Even I, being in the US am aware in India some years ago, photography/spotting was forbidden at least at some of the main airports.

Maybe create IndianAviation :D or some online community to try create higher awareness about spotting and insist until the authorities see it as a helping hand in any case, the total opposite of a suspicious or negative activity.

Look at it as a positive. These 2 British dudes served as lab rats but they'll make the aircraft-watching hobby more well-known.

Has this been big news in India?

-Mario

ps: the centaur logo rules

-- edited to add the following:

I've run into British spotters who act downright weird and suspicious. They can get out of an SUV at once and take out their spotting scopes, walk 50 feet away to "get closer to the reg" and get back in the vehicle again and take off. They'll do this in front of US customs building at Miami where there's police/law enforcement coming in and out. I'd understand if they needed to take a photo. But does the whole gang need to get out to "spot" a registration?!

If I'm at a place like that I try to stay inside the car instead of darting in and out and driving in circles around the place. I politely told one of them to be careful and try to keep it on the low down. Dude looked like he was on a mission.. - Yeah mate? Ok thanks mate -. And kept walking away to do their scope hit-men routine with his buddies. I'm thinking: gee "mate", an officer is going to come over and get us kicked out as well.

It's a huge stupidity and lack of common sense when paranoid airport workers and police bother people taking photos in one place. Now, weirdos with a "I don't care" attitude being stupid and careless probably deserve to get questioned. Acting like that, if I was a police officer I'd definitely check what's up.

[AirtrafficController]

Good news to report:

Plane-Spotters Avoid Jail Time in India

Two British men who were found with a scanner, laptop, binoculars and cameras, and who admitted to "illegally monitoring aircraft" near Indira Gandhi International Airport, India, have been fined by an Indian court, but were released Friday without jail time. Stephen Hampton, 46, and Steven Ayres, 56, had faced up to 10 years under spying charges, but pled to a lesser offense that could have led to three years in jail. The two were arrested in India, February 15, two days after a bomb blast in the Indian city of Pune initiated a security crackdown in the country. In the UK, authorities have approached plane-spotters differently. In 2004, a UK plan sought to recruit them to report suspicious potentially terrorist-related activities near airports. That program does not exist in India. There the men were arrested for recording the conversation between pilots and Air Traffic Control, which (as performed) was against sections of India's Telegraph Act. The men pled guilty to a breach under the Act.

Hampton and Ayres originally drew suspicion when, prior to their arrival, they requested a Radisson Hotel room overlooking an airport runway. Upon their arrival, their equipment was apparently enough to spark security's concern. Ultimately, the courts fined the men roughly $550 and left them free to return to the UK after stop notices were removed from their passports. Reports said that the equipment the men used could acquire information from the aircraft that identified each aircraft's make, tail number, and the airline that operated it. They could then use that information to track the aircraft around the world, according to a spokesman for the men. Hampton's mother told reporters her son travels the world to take pictures of aircraft, as a hobby.