HUBBALLI: Hubballi airport director Ahilya Kakodikar has clarified that the special plane carrying Congress president Rahul Gandhi from Delhi to Hubballi landed safely. There was no technical snag while landing. Speaking to The New Indian Express on Friday, Ahilya said: “So far the pilot has not given any complaint to us. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) has also not recorded any abnormalities. If there was any abnormalities, the ATC would have recorded it.
I am stressing that it was safe landing which means everything was fine.” She also clarified that she has no information on arrival of DGCA team and police sending request to DGCA for inquiring the incident. She said that the Falcon 2000 flight belongs to Ligare Aviation Ltd and the airport is ready to provide the ATC service if the aviation company agrees to fly the aircraft. “I have no idea why the aircraft was parked, though the plane made a safe landing,” the airport director added. The Gokul Road police meanwhile summoned the pilot and staffers on Friday also as a part of their probe.
DGCA forms committee
According to a source, the Director General of Civil Aviation has formed a twomember committee to probe into the matter. The DGCA team is likely to visit the airport by evening. The committee is likely to submit its report in two or three weeks. As politics over the alleged malfunctioning of special flight heat up, the black box of the aircraft is likely to put an end to the rumours.
Cops summon air hostess to police station at night
The Gokul Road police violated norms by summoning the air hostess of the flight after sunset. And the lady staff was made to sit in the inspector’s cabin without a lady constable for about an hour. When the air hostess came, there was no lady constable present. She was feeling uncomfortable in the presence of male police personnel. She was with the other staff of the plane (all male) and a senior police officer had detailed inquiry on the alleged malfunction of special aircraft. The staffers, including the air hostess, came to the police station at around 10 pm and she was in the station till 11 pm.