BAMYAN CITY (PAN):  A teenage student, who has made what is being called the country’s first home-made plane, is waiting for government permission to fly his aircraft, an official said on Tuesday.

Sabir Shah, a 10th-grader from Jaghori district in southern Ghazni province, was summoned to the capital Kabul by President Hamid Karzai who wanted the plane to undergo a technical check up before allowing it to take flight, district chief, Zafar Sharif, said.

Residents of the district have welcomed the high school student’s initiative, and praised his effort at making the two-seater aircraft, he said.

The airplane can fly about 20 kilometres, the district chief said, quoting Shah.

"As it is a technical job, the airplane must have a certificate from the ministry," Ghulam Ali Rasikh, deputy at the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, said.  

Ministry engineers would check over the three-wheeled plane before giving it the all clear, he said.

Shah said he did not want to talk to the media until he received permission from the ministry. He has not yet revealed how he built the plane either..

frm/ln/cas