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Blind British pilot lands in Indonesia

Monday, April 16, 2007
JAKARTA, AFP


Blind British aviator Miles Hilton-Barber landed his microlight aircraft here on Sunday to complete another leg of his London-Sydney charity flight.

With the aid of co-opilot Richard Meredith-Hardy, Hilton-Barber safely flew his Pegasus Mainair GT 450 in to East Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusumah at around 2:00 p.m. (0700 GMT.)

"He came here to raise funds for fighting avoidable blindness, notably cataracts," said Rastra, who represents the financial organisation sponsoring the flight and uses only one name.

Hilton-Barber, who has been blind for 25 years, is travelling 13,500 miles (22,000 kilometers) across 19 countries with the aim of raising one million dollars to fund cataract surgery in developing countries.

"There are so many blind people who have no opportunity to undergo the operation," said Rastra, who like many Indonesians only uses one name.

Hilton-Barber plans to land in five Indonesian cities, including Jakarta, en route to Darwin in northern Australia.

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