FBI held dozens of Indian trainee pilots

The FBI detained dozens of Indian pilots undergoing training in the United States after the September 11 terrorist attacks, according to one of them who just returned to India.

Rahul S Rawal, a pilot with a helicopter charter company in the southern city of Bangalore, said that at least 49 Indians studying in flying schools in the United States were detained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Some were detained because their immigration papers were found out of order, he said.

Two were arrested, but they were later released on bail, he added. Rawal said he was grilled by FBI agent for at least eight hours.

‘‘Any non-US nationals trying to leave the country was seen with suspicion by the FBI agents. The intelligence agents became even more suspicious after learning that we were pilots,’’ he said.

Rawal and colleague Sanjay Varma were undergoing training at the Simcom Institute in Orlando, Florida, and were planning to return to India on Sept. 12.

‘‘It was natural for the Americans to act that way in the circumstances,’’ Rawal said.

‘‘However, there could have been a better way of handling it rather than target all South Asians. It amounted to harassment and it exposed their ignorance.’’