Cong complains after Rahul’s flight ‘develops snag’, police to probe

BENGALURU: The Congress said on Thursday a plane carrying party president Rahul Gandhi experienced “suspicious and faulty performance”, prompting authorities to launch investigations into the incident that was reported in Karnataka’s Hubli.

The Congress said the plane “shuddered violently”, tilting to one side while a noise could be heard in the cabin. The auto-pilot mode did not function and the plane landed only on the third attempt, Gandhi’s close aide Kaushal Vidyarthi wrote in a letter to Karnataka DGP Neelmani N Raju. “It was apparent from the suspicious and faulty performance of the aircraft that the incidents of shuddering and altitude dipping were not natural or weather-related, but were due to some technical snag...,” it said.

“Serious questions related to intentional tampering with the aircraft cannot also be brushed aside and are requested to be addressed and investigated,” the letter read. “The crew was also petrified and admitted that the flight was particularly frightening and uncommon,” it said.

News agency Press Trust of India quoted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as saying that it would examine the issue. “Shutdown of auto pilot (mode) incidents are not uncommon. For any VIP flight, the DGCA examines it in detail. We shall do that here also,” an official told PTI. The police have registered a complaint and launched a probe.

Gandhi is on a two-day tour of the state ahead of assembly elections on May 12. The pilot and the crew of the aircraft have been questioned, an official at the Hubli airport said on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

THE CONG SAID THE PLANE “SHUDDERED VIOLENTLY”, TILTING TO ONE SIDE WHILE A NOISE COULD BE HEARD IN THE CABIN