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JAKARTA: Blind British aviator Miles Hilton-Barber
landed his microlight aircraft here on Sunday to complete another
leg of his London-Sydney charity flight.
Also on April 15 the French
Marine Nationale ship FS Floreal arrived at Jakarta’s
international seaport. There was a welcome ceremony complete with
Indonesian folk dance performances.
The FS Floreal will leave Jakarta
on April 20 at the end of an Indonesian-French joint naval exercise.
With the aid of co-pilot Richard
Meredith-Hardy, Hilton-Barber safely flew his Pegasus Mainair GT 450
in to East Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusumah at around 2 p.m. (0700
GMT.)
“He came here to raise funds
for fighting avoidable blindness, notably cataracts,” said Rastra,
who represents the financial organization sponsoring the flight and,
like many Indonesians, uses only one name.
Hilton-Barber, who has been blind
for 25 years, is traveling 22,000 kilometers across 19 countries
with the aim of raising $1 million to fund cataract surgery in
developing countries.
“There are so many blind people
who have no opportunity to undergo the operation,” said Rastra.
Hilton-Barber plans to land in
five Indonesian cities, including Jakarta, en route to Darwin in
northern Australia.
 --AFP
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