Airliners-India.com

AirIndia0001 · Member Joined: 28 Sep 2007 Posts: 391

As per the TOI, Delhi Edition

karatecatman · Guest

Mr Hampton has photographed planes all over the world

Mrs Cock said she was just waiting for the telephone to ring

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/8524432.stm
Plane spotters from Bristol detained in India

19 February 2010

Two plane spotters from Bristol have been detained in India on suspicion of spying.

Stephen Hampton, from Keynsham, and Steven Ayres, from St George, sparked suspicion after asking a Delhi hotel for a room overlooking a runway.

The pair were carrying an air traffic control scanner, laptop, binoculars and cameras.

Dan Norris MP is liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to try to bring the pair home.

Mr Norris, MP for North East Somerset, said of 46-year-old Mr Hampton: "His family are distraught, ever so anxious and worried, understandably, that he can come home soon.

"My job is to try and make that happen with the support of the Foreign Office and our diplomats and officials."

The railway worker's mother, Eileen Cock, said he had travelled all over the world photographing aircraft.

Mrs Cock said she had been expecting her son to arrive home last Tuesday, but received a call from one of his friends to say he and a friend had been detained at the hotel at which they were staying.

She said the scanning kit he was carrying was used to track incoming aircraft so they could photograph them at the best moment.

"He was under hotel arrest then for two days," Mrs Cock said.

"In the meantime I've been having various bits of information, both from Stephen and his friends, as to what was happening.

"The next thing I knew he rang me from a vehicle on his way to what I believe was a foreign registration office.

"Then, in great distress, he called me again (to say) that they had been taken to this place and that he didn't know what it was."

Mrs Cock said she believed her son was now at a deportation centre in Delhi.

"I had a rather frantic call the next day to say 'what could I do to please help him out?'," she said.

"I'm just going from minute to minute, hour to hour, waiting for the telephone to ring."

karatecatman · Guest

Another BBC story -- sent by email

Plane-spotters join terror fight

Scotland Yard said the scheme was part of its ongoing security operation
Police and BAA are recruiting aviation enthusiasts to help fight terrorism at London's Heathrow Airport.
Plane-spotters will be given identity cards and a code of conduct encouraging them to report anything suspicious.

Scotland Yard is backing the scheme, which has been introduced by aviation enthusiasts' club LAAS International.

"Aviation enthusiasts are watching the activities of the airport every day and their legitimate interest can only be to our advantage," a spokesman said.

Ch Supt Jerry Savill, borough commander for Heathrow, said the enthusiasts might be able to recognise people outside the aviation enthusiast community whose interest in the airport was not genuine.

"We want to encourage everyone, but particularly those who know the workings of the airport and can therefore spot something out of the ordinary, to contact police if they believe something they see or hear is suspicious," he said.

Hobby

Steve Dickens, airport security manager at Heathrow, said aviation enthusiasts could help keep airports secure by reporting suspicious behaviour.

He added: "We also want to ensure that genuine enthusiasts are still able to enjoy their hobby despite extra security measures which are introduced from time to time."

The scheme recognizes that, far from being classed as possible security risks... genuine aviation enthusiasts can actually play a valuable part in the battle against crime and terrorism

David Seex
LAAS International

The code of conduct, which spotters agree to when they sign up for the card, commits them to reporting unusual activity as well as clearing up litter and keeping away from security fences.

David Seex, chairman of LAAS International said: "The scheme recognizes that, far from being classed as possible security risks who need to be moved on from car parks and viewing spots in and around airports, genuine aviation enthusiasts can actually play a valuable part in the battle against crime and terrorism."

He said the club had developed the "Aviation Enthusiasts Security Scheme" in response to a request from the authorities for a single sponsoring organisation for plane spotters.

But Mr Seex said the £15 card was available to all enthusiasts, whether or not they were LAAS members.

He said the card would help airport operators "identify the real, responsible enthusiasts".

"When it is launched, we intend it to have the widest circulation amongst police forces and airfield operators, first in the UK and then overseas," said Mr Seex.

The Metropolitan Police has also issued a series of leaflets and posters targeted at aviation enthusiasts as well as airport staff and drivers urging people to report suspicious activity to the anti-terrorist hotline or to local officers.

It said the campaign was part of an ongoing counter terrorism strategy and was not in response to a specific threat.

Ch Supt Savill said: "Police, together with BAA and airlines are working hard every day to help make the airport more secure and the groups we have targeted are in positions, through their work or leisure, which could make them invaluable to our efforts. "

He added: "Experience has shown us that communities defeat terrorism. "

karatecatman · Guest

Link:
http://www.laasdata.com/

karatecatman · Guest

http://ukintaiwan.fco.gov.uk/en/
(Info on this site is common to all global British Trade & Cultural Office sites.)

General travellers' tips

The following general tips on laws and customs can help you stay out of trouble while you are abroad.

Obey the law

Find out about local laws and customs; There may be very serious penalties for breaking a law which might seem trivial to you or for doing something which may not be illegal in the UK; Do not overstay your visa or work illegally – you may be fined or sent to prison; Hobbies that involve using cameras and binoculars, such as bird watching or plane spotting, may be misunderstood (particularly near military sites). If in doubt, don’t do it.

karatecatman · Guest

INDIAN EXPRESS
Were doing nothing wrong, desperate to go home: detained UK plane-spotters
Feb 20, 2010

While Indian security agencies are yet to decide on the penal charges against two British nationals who were detained for ‘suspicious activities’, one of them, Stephen Hampston, told Newsline, “It (plane-spotting) is just my hobby. I was not doing anything wrong.”

Hampton and his friend Steve Martin were questioned by the Intelligence Bureau, the Delhi Police and the National Investigation Agency for two days, after which they were sent to the Lampur detention centre.

“This is normal activity for us, so I don’t know why we have been detained. I am in touch with my counsel who is looking into the matter,” Hampton said.

About their release, he said: “There is no news from (investigating) agencies yet.”

The two are desperate to go home. “We are missing our families. This matter is taking too long,” Hampton said.

About the facilities at the detention centre, he said they are getting proper food, “but it is limited”. “Steve is not keeping well. Indian authorities have to take a decision soon.”

The duo is also in touch with officials of the British High Commission who have reportedly said the duo have a clean record. Indian agencies, however, are verifying their movement in the country and other details.

The duo’s lawyer, Rajeev Awasthi, told Newsline they will wait till authorities finish the inquiry. “Nothing questionable has been found against my clients. But we do not want to take any step during the inquiry process.” He added if the inquiry does not end on time, they would move court against the detention.

When asked about the Indian authorities’ claims that the British nationals were gathering information about aircraft and the airport, Awasthi said, “This is a hobby that is well-accepted in the West. They were watching aircraft and no recording equipment (as was reported) has been found in their possession.”

The Delhi Police, as reported by Newsline, are exploring the possibility of booking the two under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows an officer with magisterial powers to arrest a person for ‘potential to cause unrest or danger to peace and tranquility’.

***

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/8525945.stm
20 February 2010
Plane spotters from Bristol released in India
Mr Hampton has photographed planes all over the world, his mother said
Two plane spotters from Bristol arrested in India have been released, The Foreign Office has said.

Stephen Hampton and Steven Ayres were arrested on Monday 15 February on suspicion on monitoring flights at Delhi International Airport.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokeswoman said both had been held in an immigration centre in New Delhi.

The FCO was told on Saturday afternoon that the men had been been released and the case was closed.

Mr Hampton, a railway worker from Keynsham, and Mr Ayres, from St George, sparked suspicion after asking a Delhi hotel for a room overlooking a runway.

They were carrying an air traffic control scanner, laptop, binoculars and cameras.

Mr Hampton's mother Eileen Cock said he had travelled all over the world photographing aircraft.

Dan Norris, MP for North East Somerset, had been liaising with the FCO to try to bring them home.

karatecatman · Guest

www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Bristol-planespotters-held-spying-India/article-1851925-detail/article.html
Bristol planespotters held for 'spying' in India

February 20, 2010

Diplomatic efforts to free two Bristol plane spotters who were arrested in India were under way today.

Holidaymakers Stephen Hampton, who was 46 yesterday, of Keynsham, and his friend Steve Ayres, 56, of St George, are being held in a detention centre after being accused of spying.

Their room at the Radisson Hotel, overlooking the runway at Indira Gandhi airport in Delhi, was raided by armed police and they were kept there for two days before being moved to the detention centre, which they have branded a "hell hole".

The railway workers, both employed by First Great Western, went to India to watch planes, a hobby they have shared for many years and which has taken them all over the world.

They flew to Delhi on February 11 and asked for a room overlooking the runway. According to Delhi police, the two tracked the arrival and departure of flights of several major airlines.

Mr Ayres, described by his family as such a technophobe that he does not even have a mobile phone, had just a pair of binoculars and a notepad.

Mr Hampton, who is a railway conductor, had a camera, a laptop computer and a "gadget" that attaches to the laptop. Staff at the hotel were suspicious and alerted police, who arrested the two men.

The police were concerned that the equipment Mr Hampton had with him could interfere with communication between aircraft and the airport's communication tower.

Security services in India are on high alert after a cafe was bombed in the city of Pune.

The men's passports were seized and they were questioned. Intelligence agencies checked their recent travel to find out if they had been to Pakistan, Bangladesh or any similar locations.

"We detained them as they were involved in suspicious activities," police commissioner YS Dadhwal said.

Mr Ayres's wife Dorothy and his two daughters Katy, 23, and Helen, 19, were desperate for news of him and appealed to the Indian authorities to allow him to come home.

Mrs Ayres, who has known her husband for 26 years, said he simply liked transport including trains, hot air balloons and buses, but mainly planes and was no spy.

She said: "He doesn't even own a mobile phone. Whenever we go on holiday we have to overlook the airport. He's always got his binoculars round his neck.

"I haven't spoken to him since he went away.

"I spoke to Eileen, Steve's mum, and she said they had been taken to a detention centre.

"They had been taken to have a drink and something to eat at the hotel and were then told they had to go somewhere to fill out forms so they could be deported.

"Then he phoned from the detention centre. He said it was a hell hole."

Katy said: "We do rib him about his hobby but that is all that it is.

"I just want to hear his voice, to know that he is all right.

"He has been to Hong Kong, China, America, all over the world plane spotting without a problem. This is the first time he has gone to India."

She said her son Ryan was missing his grandad.

Mr Ayres works at St Philip's Marsh alongside Railway Maritime and Transport union rep Tony Birch.

Mr Birch said: "I've known Steve for three years. He's a well-known plane spotter and so is his mate. I've negotiated with the company and they have put them on annual leave. We are all supportive of them. This is just a matter of crossed wires and I hope it can be sorted out soon."

Mr Ayres and Mr Hampton had been due to go to India with two other plane spotters from Bristol but there was a booking mix-up and the two other men went the previous week.

Mr Hampton, who lives with his father in Keynsham, managed to call one of his friends in Bristol to tell him what had happened and the friend told Mr Hampton's mother Eileen Cock, 80.

Mrs Cock, a retired secretary, spoke to her son yesterday afternoon. She said: "He's in a detention camp. He's not quite sure what is going on.

"They are very distressed because they are in a place with a lot of other people and poor sanitation.

"They are the only westerners among 30 to 50 others.

"I also spoke to him on Wednesday. He said could I please, please do all I could to help him to get home.

"They spent two nights under guard at the hotel. On Thursday morning they were pleased to be allowed to go into the foyer for a snack and a drink and then I had a call saying they were on their way to a foreign registration office.

"I contacted my MP and he has been so helpful."

Mrs Cock's MP Dan Norris has asked the Foreign Office to intervene and spoke to Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday.

He said: "These incidents don't happen very often but the Consular Office is very skilled in dealing with such situations.

"It's about trying to get the authorities to move as quickly as possible to finish whatever they are doing and to make a decision. Hopefully that will be for the men to come home.

"I was able to speak to Stephen on his mobile and I took that as a good sign. If they felt he was a spy they wouldn't have allowed me to speak to him. I spoke to David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, and he assured me that everything was being done diplomatically to get the men home as soon as possible.

"Mrs Cock was really pleased to be able to speak to her son and was able to reassure him that everything possible was being done to get him home."

Foreign Office spokeswoman Hannah Watson said: "We can confirm that two British nationals were arrested in India on February 15 on suspicion of monitoring flights at Delhi international airport.

"Both men are being held in an immigration centre in New Delhi while the Indian authorities continue to investigate the matter.

"The Foreign Office cannot interfere in an ongoing police investigation nor can we secure their release. The British High Commission has raised the case with the Indian authorities though we are restricted in the representations we can make as we cannot interfere in the Indian judicial system.

"Consular staff have been in regular contact with both British nationals and continue to provide consular assistance. We are also in touch with the next of kin in the UK and keeping them informed of developments."

***

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokeswoman said it was informed of their release and added: "We can confirm that both British nationals, Stephen Hampton and Steven Ayres, have been cleared and the case is now closed.

karatecatman · Guest

Exact opposite of what the British Foreign office has said

***

IBN
Britons to face trial for 'plane spotting' in Delhi
IANS

Feb 21, 2010

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Sunday registered a case against two British nationals, who were detained last week for allegedly recording the conversation between the pilots and air traffic control in Delhi.

Stephen Hampston, 46, and Steve Martin, 55, were booked under the Section 20 of the Telegraph Act following a case filed against them at the Vasant Vihar police station. Both, staying at the Radisson Hotel close to the Indira Gandhi International Airport here, were detained on February 15 after hotel staff reported to police about their "suspicious activities".

"We have registered a case against them. They have been charged under the Telegraph Act," a police officer said.

If convicted, the duo will have to serve a prison term of up to three years, or/with a fine extending to up to Rs 1,000. The offence is bailable.

***

TIMES OF INDIA
Detained for 'spotting' planes, Britons booked
TNN,
Feb 22, 2010

NEW DELHI: A week after two British nationals were detained for allegedly recording the conversation between pilots and Air Traffic Control (ATC), the south Delhi police on Sunday booked the two "plane spotters" under the Telegraph Act.

Stephen Hampston (46) and Steve Martin (55) were detained on February 15 night at Radisson Hotel after hotel staff reported to police about "the duo indulging in suspicious activities".

"We have registered a case against them. They have been charged under Telegraph Act under Section 20 (read with Section four)," Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Ajay Kashyap said.

If convicted, they will have to serve a prison term of up to three years, or pay a fine extending to up to Rs 1,000, or both. However, the offence is bailable and non-cognizable. According to Section 20 of the Telegraph Act, if any person establishes, maintains or operates a telegraph within the country in contravention of the provisions of Section 4 which allows only licenced ones to do the same, the person may be booked under the provisions of the Act.

The Union Home Ministry had asked Delhi Police to book them if they were found to have violated the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act. But the duo, who were in possession of sophisticated equipment used for recording conversation between the ATC and the pilot and a high-powered binocular, claimed that they were into the hobby of plane spotting.

They had called up the hotel from London before their India trip specifically demanding a room overlooking the international airport, sources said. Some of the blogs also put conversation between the pilot and ATC online. Besides examining the sophisticated equipment, investigators have checked the hard disks of their laptops besides e-mails sent by them.

karatecatman · Guest

TIMES UK
Feb 22, 2010

British plane-spotters face jail in India?
Two British plane-spotters face three years in a Delhi prison after being charged with illegally intercepting communications between pilots and airport authorities..

Stephen Hampston, 46, and Steven Martin, 55, were arrested by Indian police last Monday at a hotel near the Delhi international airport after staff raised concerns about their suspicious behaviour.

Indian media reports said police had found powerful binoculars, equipment that could trace far-off aircraft including military planes and a map of the airport in their hotel room..

"This plane-spotting that they were doing is illegal in India. They should have applied for permission before doing this. They have been charged for violating the rules," said Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.

Another police official said the two had been booked for intercepting "communications between the pilots and the Delhi air traffic control."

He added that investigations had shown the two had no link to any terror group.

However they had arrived in India at a particularly sensitive time for the security forces. The pair were arrested two days after the restaurant bombing in the western city of Pune on February 13 which killed at least a dozen people.

Security forces have also been on the defensive since revelations that David Headley, a US citizen and suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, visited India numerous times as a tourist.

The case echoes another in Greece in 2000 in which local authorities jailed a group of 12 British plane-spotters after they were arrested at an air force day function.

They were found guilty of espionage charges but their sentences were suspended pending appeals.

***

Sent by email -- this is a 2005 article (TIMES UK)

Plane crazy
ITV has made a drama out of a crisis, finds Daphne Lockyer

In November 2001, a peculiarly British story captured the nation’s imagination. A group of British planespotters had been arrested in Kalamata, Greece, accused of spying. Although it was obvious to fellow Brits that the Greeks had netted a pack of harmless plane nerds rather than a devious circle of undercover agents, the hapless innocents ended up languishing in Greek prisons for six weeks.
It was as if the Greeks couldn’t comprehend an activity as banal as noting down the serial numbers of aircraft in order to, well, add them to a collection. And can you blame them? Where, except for Britain, would such anorakish behaviour be deemed normal?

The British are born to morris-dance, pigeon fancy, train and planespot. “We’re a nation where some blokes disappear to their garden sheds every night to build ships out of matches,” says Lesley Sharp, who plays Lesley Coppin — the sole woman in the pack — in this week’s ITV drama about the above events.

“Yeah?” shrugs Mark Benton, who plays her husband, Paul Coppin. “And what’s wrong with that?” Nothing at all, of course, as the drama, directed by Chris Menaul (Wall of Silence, Belonging), is at pains to point out. Indeed, it aims to lift the hood of the geeky activity that is plane- spotting and give a human face to those who didn’t, for example, just fly to Athens on easyJet, but dutifully noted the aircraft’s serial number in a little black book before take-off.

“These people have an eccentric hobby,” says Sharp. “But they are also ordinary people whose ordinary lives were suddenly twisted into a terrible nightmare.”

Related Links
Report of Greek hearing 'undermined justice'
“The easy route would have been to take the p*** and produce Carry On Up the Planespotting,” Sharp adds. “But though the film does look wryly at the activity, Menaul wasn’t afraid to delve into the dark side and into the genuine pain they experienced.”

In Coppin’s case, she was sent alone to a women’s prison where little English was spoken. She had no idea when, or if, she would be released. She was aware of the worst-case scenario — the penalty for spying was death. Oddly, the trip was her honeymoon — shared with ten of her husband’s plane-spotting mates. She wasn’t even a devotee. At the time of the arrest she was sitting innocently in the van.

The drama is unlikely to endear viewers to the Greeks, who are generally portrayed as bureaucrats who may have invented philosophy but wouldn’t understand the magic of, say, philately, Toby Jug collecting or, indeed, planespotting, if it bit them on the puffball skirts of their national costume. Well, every nation has its eccentricities.

Not surprisingly, given the international embarrassment caused by the incident, the foreign exteriors were filmed in Portugal instead. But some of the real plane-spotters have walk-on roles, including Paul Coppin, who found himself in his element. The sets, after all, were built in a huge aircraft hangar.

Planespotting, Sun, ITV1, 9pm

karatecatman · Guest

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/8525945.stm
21 February 2010

Plane spotters arrested in India are still detained

The Foreign Office has said it is now unsure when two British plane spotters arrested in India could be released.

Stephen Hampton and Steven Ayres, from Bristol, were arrested on Monday on suspicion of monitoring flights at Delhi International Airport.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokeswoman said they were still being held at a New Delhi immigration centre.

The FCO had said previously that the two men had been, or were due to be, released.

The spokeswoman said the two men were being held while the Indian authorities continue to investigate the matter.

"The FCO cannot interfere in an ongoing police investigation nor can we secure their release," she said.

"The British High Commission has raised the case with the Indian authorities though we are restricted in the representations we can make as we cannot interfere in the Indian judicial system."

'Keeping informed'

The spokeswoman said consular staff had been in regular contact with both men and continued to provide consular assistance.

"We are also in touch with the next-of-kin in the UK and keeping them informed of developments," she added.

On Saturday the FCO initially issued a statement saying the men had been released and later changed this to say they were waiting to be informed of their release by the Indian authorities.

The spokeswoman said this information was now known to be incorrect.

Mr Hampton, a railway worker from Keynsham, and Mr Ayres, from St George, sparked suspicion after asking a Delhi hotel for a room overlooking a runway.

They were carrying an air traffic control scanner, laptop, binoculars and cameras.

Mr Hampton's mother Eileen Cock said he had travelled all over the world photographing aircraft.

Dan Norris, MP for Wansdyke, has been liaising with the FCO to try to bring them home.

***

Stephen Hampton, Steven Ayres: British Plane Spotters Arrested in India Still Detained
Beth

Stephen Hampton and Steven Ayres are British plane spotters who were arrested in India and are still detained. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) had reported that the two British men would be released. However, at this time the British Foreign Office has said it is not sure when they might be released.

Hampton and Ayres are both from Bristol. They were arrested on Monday, February 15, 2010 on suspicion of monitoring flights at the Delhi International Airport. They are being held at a New Delhi immigration center while Indian authority are investigating the incident. The FCO has reported that office is unable to interfere with an ongoing police investigation to secure the release of the men. The FCO is in contact with the men and offering legal assistance.

Stephen Hampton, 46-years-old, is a railway worker from Keynsham. Steven Ayres, 55-years-old, is from St George. The two plane spotters came under suspicion when Ayres asked the Radisson Hotel in Delhi hotel for a room overlooking an airport runway. When they arrived at the hotel for their visit, they had air traffic control scanners, laptops, binoculars and cameras in their possession.

The plane spotters were arrested after allegedly recording the conversation between pilots and Air Traffic Control (ATC).

“We have registered a case against them. They have been charged under Telegraph Act under Section 20 (read with Section four),” Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Ajay Kashyap said.

Eileen Cook, Hampton’s mother, has told reporters that her son travels all over the world photographing aircraft as a hobby. Wansdyke MP, Dan Norris, is acting as a liaison in an attempt to assist in securing the release of Hampton and Ayres.

If convicted of violating the Indian Telegraph Act, Stephen Hampton and Steven Ayres can be sentenced to up to three-years in prison and/or a fine of up to Rs 1,000. The offense is bailable and non-cognizable in India.

As opposed to earlier reports, the British plane spotters arrested in India are still detained

Devesh

http://www.bangaloreaviation.com/2010/02/video-news-9-showcases-airplane.html

The TV station News 9 showcased the hobby of airplane spotting and the Aviation Photographers India (API).

Yesterday, we hosted the News9 crew at the airport and showed them the passion that some call insanity of us plane spotters. Many members of API interacted with the News9 crew and offered their perspective.

Two of API's co-founders Praveen Sundaram and myself were also interviewed earlier this morning at the TV9/News9 studios.

Hope you enjoy this 17 minutes video. Sorry, I could not post on YouTube given their 10 minutes video length limitation.

<video>

For more information about the Aviation Photographers India, please visit our Facebook group.
_________________
----------------------
Devesh
Bangalore Aviation

karatecatman · Guest

We didn't know it was an offence here: Britons

NEW DELHI, Feb 23, 2010
(Hindustan Times

"We have been dumped here. We did not seek permission from anyone for plane spotting in Delhi as we did not know it was an offence," said Steve Ayres (55), an aviation enthusiast who was detained at the Radisson hotel with his friend Stephen Hampston (46), a week ago for allegedly receiving signals of several planes on a device carried by them.

An employee of British Railways, Ayres came to India with Hampston on February 11. Both are avid plane spotters.

"I have been to other countries, too, for plane spotting. After coming to Delhi, we visited the IGI airport's domestic terminal and also the Air Force Museum as it is our hobby," said Ayres, who claimed they have not heard anything from the authorities. Hindustan Times was the first to report the incident.

Both Ayres and Hampston have been held at the Lampur detention centre in northwest Delhi since February 17. The Radisson Hotel staff had alerted the police when they found them taking pictures of the aircraft flying in and out of the IGI airport 500 metres away, on February 15.

In a three page report submitted before a city court on Monday, Delhi Police alleged that the duo were carrying S-Box, a device used for receiving signals regarding the identification, registration of an aircraft, a violation under the Indian Telegraph Act.

On Monday, in a three-page report submitted before a city court, Delhi Police alleged that the duo were carrying an S-Box, a device used to receive signals about the identification and registration of an aircraft--a violation of the Indian Telegraph Act.

Delhi Police decided to book the duo under the Act after receiving a report from the Wireless department of the Ministry of Communications. The report said they had recorded the registration number, flight path and country code of several flights including British Airways and Thai Airways. The laptop seized from the duo also carries several photographs of aircrafts, none of which were taken at the IGI airport, police said.

"The small receiver recovered from them is covered under the Telegraph Act," the report said. After being detained, the two Britons were grilled by six different agencies including Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB).

"We moved an application before a city court as they are being illegally detained at Lampur. When a case has been registered against them, they should have been produced in court on Monday," said Rajiv Awasthi, the two Britons' counsel.

"The court will hear the case on Tuesday and will take necessary action," said H.G.S. Dhaliwal, DCP (south).

karatecatman · Guest

MAIL UK
British plane spotters bailed from Indian 'hell hole' after court finds they were held illegally

Tom Kelly
23rd February 2010

Two plane spotters accused of hacking into pilots' conversations were bailed from an Indian 'hell hole' today after a judge ruled they had been illegally detained.
But Steven Ayres, 56, and Stephen Hampton, 46, were ordered to remain in the country and could be jailed for three years at a court hearing next week after they each admitted a charge of illegally monitoring aircraft.
The railway workers were arrested at the Radisson Hotel over looking Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi last week, after staff became suspicious of their air traffic control scanner, high-powered binoculars and sophisticated computer equipment.

Police initially held them at the hotel, but were later moved to a detention centre with poor sanitation where they were locked in a room with 50 other inmates, none of whom spoke English.
Today, after their court appearance in Delhi, their lawyer Rajiv Avasthi said: 'They had been detained illegally by the police for a week so we moved an application before the courts.
'We appealed for their innocence on the basis that the two were not aware they were doing anything wrong and the courts released them on bail.
'The men come from respectable families in the UK and have never been in trouble before.
'All the security agencies investigated and checked history from their home country and found nothing averse.'
Hampton and Ayres, who are both from Bristol, will have to appear in court again for sentencing on March 3 and cannot leave the India until they have received special permission from the courts.

Hampton's mother Eileen Cock, 79, said: 'I feel a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders, at least for a few days.
'I'm hoping they will be able to come home now but at least they will be able to get some proper accommodation and catch up on some sleep so they can think straight about what is happening.
'It has been very hard in the detention centre.'
Married Ayres, who has two daughters aged 23 and 19 and a five year old grandson, had earlier branded the detention centre a 'hell hole' in a phone call to his wife Dorothy.
The men's MP, Dan Norris, said: 'I'm very relieved that they are released from the detention centre but will be redoubling my efforts now so they can return home, hopefully on March 3.'
'They pleaded guilty to this breach under the Telegraph Act, an outdated colonial law, but the judge wants to know more about this scanner and whether or not you can listen in to the conversations between pilots and air traffic control which apparently you can't.
'All this equipment does is pick up a beacon in every aircraft which identifies its make and the airline that runs it, and its full number so they can track them around the world.
'They will be glad to get a proper wash and catch up on sleep and start working out how to convince the judge that they are plane spotters using pieces of equipment the judge needn't be concerned about.'
Kinetic Avionics Ltd, which makes the scanner, has given both men financial support to help fund their legal and travel costs.

David Goodman, the company's chief executive, said: 'We believe they are passionate enthusiasts who are fulfilling their lifetime hobby of plane spotting.
'Whilst it may appear to some to be a strange hobby, gardening seems equally strange to me.
'We have to hope that any judgment is a judgment with clemency and leniency.'
The equipment, an aircraft virtual radar receiver with built-in radio, allows the men to listen to aircraft on a virtual radar receiver and gives them a virtual 3D representation of the aircraft.
The men's arrest on February 15 came just two days after a bomb blast at a German Bakery in Pune, the first major strike of its kind in India since the deadly Mumbai attacks in November 2008.

***

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/8530062.stm
UK plane-spotters 'admit monitoring aircraft' in India

The pair sparked suspicion after asking for a hotel room overlooking a runway
Two UK plane-spotters have admitted illegally monitoring aircraft in India, the MP fighting for their return home said.

Stephen Hampton, 46 and Steven Ayres, 56, both from Bristol, have been released on bail after being charged with intercepting communications.

MP Dan Morris said the men had pleaded guilty to a breach under the Telegraph Act at Patiala House Court in Delhi.

The men cannot leave India and their case has been adjourned until 3 March.

Wansdyke MP Mr Norris, who is in close contact with the families, said the men had now been released from a detention centre.

Speaking from their Bristol home Mr Ayres' wife Dorothy said she thought he would be feeling anxious and that the shock would just be hitting home.

Mrs Ayres said: "Now he's out of the detention centre he might get to hear a bit more about what's going on.

"They weren't told anything at all. I was under the impression the lawyers had gone into the centre and spoke to them - but that's obviously that's not the case.

"He's never seen the lawyer other than for the first time at the court today. He's been plane-spotting for 35 years. It's been a real shock. We'll just be happy for him to be home."

Railway workers Mr Hampton, from Keynsham, and Mr Ayres, from St George, sparked suspicion after asking a Delhi hotel for a room overlooking a runway.

They were carrying an air traffic control scanner, a laptop, binoculars and cameras.

Breaches of India's Telegraph Act carry sentences of up to three years in prison.

Mr Norris said: "They pleaded guilty to this breach under the Telegraph Act, an outdated colonial law, but the judge wants to know more about this scanner and whether or not you can listen in to the conversations between pilots and air traffic control which apparently you can't.

"All this equipment does is pick up a beacon in every aircraft which identifies its make and the airline that runs it, and its full number so they can track them around the world."

Mr Hampton's mother Eileen Cock said she was relieved the men were no longer being held in custody.

"I feel a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders, at least for a few days," she said.

"I'm hoping they will be able to come home now but at least they will be able to get some proper accommodation and catch up on some sleep so they can think straight about what is happening."

She said her son had photographed planes all over the world.

The arrests happened during a security crackdown in the wake of a bomb blast in the Indian city of Pune, the country's first such explosion in over a year.

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http://www.southgatearc.org/news/february2010/british_planespotters_arrested.htm

Southgate amateur radio club

British planespotters arrested in India
Two plane spotters from Bristol have been arrested in India and charged with illegally monitoring planes.

Receivers for monitoring aircraft communications are in widespread use in the UK and there is nothing unusual in finding hobbyists with communications equipment, binoculars and cameras near UK airports.

Unfortunately the situation is different in some other countries.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson is reported as saying that Stephen Hampton and Steven Ayres are due in court on Tuesday February 23 and have been charged with misusing communications equipment under the Indian Telegraph Act.

***

http://tinyurl.com/ykgs3d4
SKYNEWS
British Plane Spotters Granted Bail In India

Tuesday February 23, 2010

Tim Hewage, Sky News Online

Two British men have been released on bail after being caught plane spotting from their hotel in Delhi.

The men were arrested after hotel staff saw them acting suspiciously

Police in India arrested Stephen Hampston and Steven Martin on February 15 after finding receivers, maps and binoculars in their room.

The men, from Bristol, had been staying at a Radisson Hotel near the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Hotel staff became suspicious and called police after the pair asked for a room overlooking the runway.

The two plane enthusiasts were allegedly listening in to conversations between pilots and air traffic controllers at the airport.

Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said investigations had not shown any link between the two men and any terror groups.

It is believed they are now being charged with intercepting communications offences but have been released on bail until March 3.

Their defence lawyer Rajeev Avasthi said: "Aircraft spotting is a very common and general hobby in Western countries.

"They didn't know it is an offence, so it is an innocent act.

"They will be staying in India till the court orders and grants permission to leave the country."

India has been on a heightened state of alert since the February 13 bomb blast in the western city of Pune, which killed 15 and injured dozens.

It was the first Islamist militant attack on Indian soil in the 14 months since the Mumbai attack, where gunmen killed 166 people.

karatecatman · Guest

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8530716.stm
A mixture of 'physics and romance' for plane-spotters
Mario Cacciottolo
BBC News

Troy Kaser is keen on planes, as he demonstrated at Boston airport
For most of us an aeroplane is a mere means of transportation, a prosaic and functional method by which we can travel around the world in a matter of hours.

But for some, planes are a source of magic and wonder, a fascinating beast conveniently supplied with serial numbers and a traceable history just dying to be logged and discussed among like-minded folk.

And so there is a breed of aeroplane enthusiast, who stands out for long hours in all weathers at the edge of airports and in line with screaming flight paths, hoping that a certain type of aircraft will thunder overhead, allowing another mechanical beast to be added to their collection of visual contacts.

People have been looking up planes for a long time, of course, but plane spotters are once again back in the news after Stephen Hampton and Steven Ayres, from Bristol, were charged with intercepting communications in India.

They have been released on bail and have had their court case adjourned until 3 March.

And 12 plane-spotters from the UK were among a group of 14 who were arrested in Greece in 2002 and charged with spying, but were later acquitted.

It's the same as people collecting stamps - I just collect tail numbers

Peter Field, pilot and plane-spotter
Troy Kaser is a 34-year-old plane-spotter who gives extensive mention on his personal blog about a day spent at Heathrow Airport looking at aircraft coming in to land.

Originally from Florida, he has been living in Ealing, London, for more than three years, and said his interest in spotting planes stemmed from his previous job.

"I used to work for the Expedia travel company and so I used to travel a great deal.

Seaside spotting

"I always had an interest in routes and schedules and my interest in aircraft just grew from there."

Mr Kaser said his friends have teased him over his ability to identify the Singapore-bound Airbus A380 which flies over Ealing at about noon.

He also talks of a friend who had a two-year-old boy who wanted to get out of the house - so he took his baby to Heathrow to look at the planes.

Mr Kaser carries binoculars, a camera, chair and a thermos whenever he heads out to look to the skies, and revealed that his own ideal spotting moment would be actually be a beach holiday in the Caribbean.

Troy Kaser spotted this Eva Air Cargo plane at Heathrow
However, this is no ordinary stretch of sand as Maho Beach, on the island of St Martin in the Netherlands Antilles, is so close to the runway to Princess Juliana International Airport that aircraft come in only a few hundred feet overhead.

And although he says his interest is not as "advanced" as other spotters, he clearly gets enjoyment from watching these machines glide through the heavens.

"It's very interesting to get much closer to an aircraft than you would just wandering around the streets of London.

"You get to see the minute adjustments a pilot makes as he's coming into land. And there's a mystery of the physics of aircraft, combined with the romance of travel.

"I like to think about where those passengers have gone or where they might be heading to."

Foxtrot Alpha November

Peter Field, 33, is a pilot with the bmibaby airline, who flies around the UK and on flights across Europe.

He is in the enviable position of having combined his passion for plane-spotting with his job.

"I'm spotting every day," he said. "Either through being at work or on my days off I'll go to Heathrow and see them there.

Maho Beach is a paradise for plane spotters and sun worshippers alike
"I was into planes before I became a pilot. There's a good social scene, as you always see the same faces when you go on trips and it's a day out with your mates.

"It's the same as people collecting stamps - I just collect tail numbers.

"The equipment I carry is getting heavier. I've got a telescope - which raises eyebrows when you get it out in the middle of Chicago airport. I also have binoculars, a laptop for the tailfin database, a book and pen and a camera with lenses.

"I do know of other pilots who are into plane spotting, including a captain on long-haul British Airways flights, but they try to keep it quiet."

Levent Bergkotte is a 33-year-old Dutchman who lives in Geneva but is on a day trip to Toulouse in France when he agrees to be interviewed, spelling his name using the phonetic alphabet in the manner of any good plane enthusiast.

He explains how he had a day off from work - in the aviation industry - and decided to visit the Airbus facility in the city. He has previously been to Spain, Portugal and Malaysia to spot and write about aircraft.

"There are different types of spotters," he said. "Some are into military aircraft but my interest is civil aviation.

"I take lots of pictures of planes. But for some, spotting means literally just that - they spot the numbers on the aircraft and just write them down, to confirm that they've seen them."

karatecatman · Guest

TIMES OF INDIA
Hotel room recommended by friend to Brits for view
Rahul Tripathi
TNN
Feb 24, 2010

NEW DELHI: The two British plane spotters, arrested in Delhi last week, were asked by one of their friends from Bristol to hire a particular room at Radisson Hotel because it gave them a better view for aircraft spotting. The friend, Kevin Stokes, along with another person, Alastair James Huggins, had stayed in the same room (No 464) for three days in January from where the two —Steven Martin Ayres (55) and Stephen Hampston (46) — were held.

Speaking to TOI over phone, Hampston refused to comment on the case. ‘‘I do not want to make any comment till the court case is over,’’ he said. Police said he had called up his home and broke down while narrating his ordeal.

He and Ayres had been booked under the Indian Telegraph Act and were on Tuesday granted bail by a Delhi court. They were charged with carrying an SBS 1ER, popularly known as S BOX, which monitors and records the movement of aircraft. After recording the details of the aircraft like altitude, call sign etc., they used to decode the information on their laptop with the help of a software called Base Station, which can be easily downloaded from the internet.

Stating that ‘‘keeping the accused in custody would amount to infringement of their personal liberty,’’ Metropolitan Magistrate Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler granted them bail. The court, however, observed that ‘‘the FRRO is the sole authority with regard to foreigners and the court cannot give directions on this issue (detention of foreigners).’’

‘‘The FRRO, Delhi, is directed to issue a fresh direction as regards to fresh detention of the accused,’’ the court added. It also asked the accused duo to furnish a personal bond of Rs 10,000 each as a pre-condition for release, fixing the matter for further hearing on March 3. The court asked the accused not to leave India without prior permission from it. Their passports have been returned to them.

Both are employed with First Great Western Railways Limited in Bristol. Hampston belongs to Keynsham in Bristol and works as a railway conductor while Ayres works at St Philip’s Marsh. Police said Ayres was not carrying any mobile phone and had only a pair of binoculars and a notepad.

Ayres’s wife, Dorothy, told officials that he is not a spy and was only an avid plane spotter. ‘‘He notes down the number of the planes only as a hobby,’’ she is believed to have told the officials of the high commission in Delhi. He has two daughters.

The two claimed to have travelled to Hong Kong, China and America, besides other places, spotting planes without a hitch. This is the first time the two had come to India.
— Inputs from Smriti Singh

G-BYGB · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 11:36 am Post subject:

The dumb-struck Indian authorities should finally accept that Plane-Spotting was not and never ever will be a threat to national security to India.Instead they should focus on other aspects to guard India from terrorist attacks.

When we can see so many plane spotters post 9/11 in US and Europe,I don't know whats the fuss about in letting many Plane-spotters in India to peacefully take airline pics without any pass or other documents for verification? Rolling Eyes

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www.flickr.com/G-BYGB photos

rutvij · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 9:14 pm Post subject:

Thanks to iflytb20 who brought this amazing device to our notice. Now, they have gone a step further - > AirNav 3D

Tracking Flights in 3D - Cathay Pacific departing Heathrow to Hong Kong:

Thankfully, they hadn't brought this. A Life sentence wasn't far away!

Devesh · Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:23 pm Post subject:

http://www.bangaloreaviation.com/2010/03/two-british-plane-spotters-fined-rs.html

Two British plane spotters fined Rs. 25,000 but escape jail time

The two British plane-spotters, Stephen Hampton and Steven Ayres from Bristol, arrested in New Delhi last month for monitoring ATC conversations, have been fined Rs. 25,000 each by a court in Delhi, after admitting to illegally monitoring aircraft.

The two spotters who appeared before magistrates in Delhi were charged under the antiquated but draconian Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, with intercepting privileged communications.

What will be a relief to the pair, and to all of us spotters, is that fact that they escaped with just a fine, instead of jail time. Mr. Hampton and Mr. Ayers were informed they could return to the UK.

It is important to note that the court did not charge them for observing or photographing aircraft.

Source : BBC News
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Devesh
Bangalore Aviation

G-BYGB · Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 6:22 pm Post subject:

The last sentence mentioned in the article,is a big relief for all our airline spotters.That would mean all the guys at Jari Mari,BIAL and at Delhi can take pics from a safe distance without any hazzles.
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www.flickr.com/G-BYGB photos

aalokg · Member Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 158 Location: Mumbai

Devesh · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:29 am Post subject:

karatecatman · Guest

Mr Hampton's MP Dan Norris, whose Wansdyke constituency includes Keynsham, has been helping the men.

He thanked the company that made the scanning equipment the men were using, Kinetic Avionics, who had put £5,000 towards the men's legal costs.

Nimish · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:36 pm Post subject:

Devesh · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:40 pm Post subject:

karatecatman · Guest

www.indianexpress.com/news/its-a-bird.../585086/0

It’s a bird...
BHAIRAV ACHARYA

Feb 27, 2010

On the face of it, Stephen Hampton and Steven Ayres — the two Britons arrested last week from Delhi’s Radisson Hotel for listening to air traffic control (ATC) communications — were simply unlucky. In the UK, as in India, listening to ATC communications is an offence. But this has not deterred aviation enthusiasts across the world from standing alongside runways for hours photographing and documenting airplanes and monitoring their radio frequencies. For most, this is an incomprehensible hobby and the Radisson’s staff cannot be accused of overreacting to a situation that lends itself to suspicion rather easily.

A few decades ago, when airlines and pilots and stewardesses epitomised glamour, plane-spotting was an understandable hobby. Each country’s national airline did more than ferry people overseas; they represented that country abroad. In the late ’80s, for instance, when Ethiopia was in the midst of famine and conflict, their national airline was remarkably successful. In major airports around the world, Ethiopian Airlines aircraft jostled for space with the big European and American carriers. I remember a group of Ethiopian women break into proud applause in a waiting room in Dubai when their airline touched down in front of them.

I often used to travel to Tanzania, and from the windows of African airports I watched planes from little known cities land and depart, each one a colourful embodiment of their countries. I was fairly young when I learned to identify aircraft. There is something unforgettable about sitting in the rear of a Boeing 727, with the third engine screeching overhead, as the pilot makes the last broad turn over the Red Sea before landing in Aden. Or the steady whine of the Boeing 757’s two engines barely 30 feet above the water, where Entebbe airport’s runway juts out like a promontory into Lake Victoria.

For many of us, planes are just a quicker way of going on holiday or commuting to work. But for me, they have never been so banal. Before terrorism came to India’s cities, Bangalore’s old airport had a narrow road running alongside its single runway. At some points, this road was less than 30 feet from where the planes touched down, separated from the airport by a wooden fence. Only one plane used to come in at night, an Air India Boeing 747 that landed at half past midnight a few times a week. On one rainy night, it landed in a howling spray of jetwash that nearly uprooted the fence and sent me reeling backwards. A landing plane is an overwhelming display of scarcely controlled power; it is only understood at close quarters when the scale of the aircraft, the roar of its engines, the force of air and the shuddering ground together engulf the human senses.

It is this fascination that drives plane-spotters across the world, to foreign airports and alien hotel rooms, in search of planes. You do not need much to be a planespotter, just patience and a keen eye. Some spotters photograph their planes: this is not an easy thing to do, even with good cameras and equipment you need a steady hand and an exact understanding of the plane’s next move. One of the best places in India to plane spot is at the southern edge of Mumbai’s airport, standing atop the rocky outcrop that overlooks the planes queuing up to take-off from Runway 27. Delhi, too, is quite sublime, especially on late winter nights when the fog muffles the sound of engines and leaves you startled when an Uzbekistan Airlines, with one of the most colourful liveries I have seen and a regular in Delhi, thunders into view overhead.

But photography does not give you a feel of how a plane is flown. Short of sitting with the pilots, the best way to track a plane’s journey is to listen to its communication with ATC. In the USA, and in many other countries, monitoring ATC frequencies is permitted as long as you do not transmit and jam the frequency. There are websites dedicated to broadcasting live ATC feeds. When there is time, I listen to the progress of any one plane from Ireland across several trans-Atlantic controllers until it is finally handed to a Tower controller in New York who issues landing clearance. Air traffic controllers perform a complex and thankless job. From a single screen with several moving blips, a controller must construct a three-dimensional awareness of her airspace that is constantly moving and in which thousands of lives are always in play.

A few months ago, I stumbled across a recording of a lengthy exchange between a Delhi radar controller and the pilots of at least 35 different aircraft. It was rush hour in the sky and the stress was palpable. In a calm voice, the controller issued back-to-back instructions to about 20 planes, asking them to descend, climb, turn, increase or reduce speed and intercept the ILS. The last instruction went to the pilot of a landing Lufthansa flight. In line with safety protocols, the pilot acknowledged the controller by repeating her instructions. “Thank you, Madame”, he said quietly at the end. The controller issued instructions to ten other aircraft before coming back to Lufthansa: “It is my pleasure, Sir. Welcome to Delhi.”

The writer, a plane-spotter, is based in Bangalore

Great article. Have you considered joining the Aviation Photographers India?
By: Devesh Agarwal | 08-Mar-2010 Reply | Forward
Great article Bhairav. As you may be aware, India's first officially recognised spotting group Aviation Photographers India is right here in Bangalore. It will be a pleasure to meet up with you and to have you in our group. Also wanted to check for the URL of the lengthy ATC conversation in Delhi. Is it on YouTube? TIA devesh {at} bangaloreaviation d com.