Very few people know that Lalu Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap, before donning the khadi and contesting as the RJD candidate from Bihar’s Mahua assembly constituency, actually wanted to be a pilot. 28-year-old Tej Pratap, who is only a high school graduate, was never keen on higher studies. Few years ago, he got himself enrolled in Patna’s Bihar Flying Institute for a course which would enable him to get a commercial pilot license (CPL).
Tej Pratap underwent the pre-solo stage of training during which a trainee flies an aircraft with an instructor on board. This phase of the training normally lasts till the trainee completes 40 hours of flying. Tej flew a Cessna 172, the aircraft used for training by the institute, and completed few hours of flying. To get a CPL, one must fly for at least 200 hours. But the undergraduate Tej developed cold feet midway and could not complete his course due to unknown reasons.