Rahul Gandhi's aircraft suffers technical glitch, Congress cries conspiracy
The Congress on Thursday alleged conspiracy after a copter (10-seater Dassault Falcon 2000 aircraft) carrying president Rahul Gandhi to Hubbali from New Delhi experienced an 'unexplained malfunctioning' mid-air. According to TOI, Congress sources said PM Narendra Modi called Rahul to ask about his well-being. However, the incident was kept a secret till late evening, and only Siddaramaiah, Mallikarjun M Kharge, and K C Venugopal knew about it.
Kaushal Vidyarthee, Rahul Gandhi's friend, who was also onboard said the flight took off at 9:20 AM. At around 10:45 AM, the helicopter tilted heavily towards the left. In the complaint registered with the Karnataka police, Vidyarthee said a clanking voice was heard, and the aircraft was shuddering. All this despite the weather being perfectly sunny, and not windy, he said.
An FIR was registered at the Hubballi Gokul Road police station against the pilots, holding them responsible for the incident. Congress has asked for a high-level probe into this matter. Alleging 'international tampering', Vidyarthee said the flight landed at Hubballi airport, after two failed attempts. Belonging to the Ligare Aviation Ltd, the aircraft was operated by a Delhi-based chartered company.
Glad to be in a room and getting some rest....thankful for being alive...never had such a frightening experience in my life...plane went into free fall...couldnt believe CP's composure and calmness as he stood beside pilots trying to save the situation.
— Kaushal K Vidyarthee (@vidyarthee) April 26, 2018
The DGCA ordered grounding of the aircraft and crew after the incident. A senior DGCA official said it was an autopilot snag after which the pilots shifted the aircraft to manual mode and landed safely. "Autopilot shut down incidents are not uncommon. But any occurrence with a VIP flight is investigated thoroughly and that will be done in this case too," he said.
Calling it a serious case of aviation mechanics failure, Surjewala said the special flight was off-radar for a few minutes. He said when an SPG protectee is traveling, details of the aircraft and pilots are submitted to DGCA after which flight takes off. He demanded a thorough investigation into it. Rahul Gandhi is yet to comment on the entire incident.
