RaGa’s flight develops ‘unexplained’ tech snag

Congress hints at ‘intentional tampering’, demands probe

A plane carrying Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday developed a technical snag with the party demanding a probe into the “suspicious and faulty performance” of the aircraft before landing at the Hubballi airport in north Karnataka.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in New Delhi that it would examine the issue, while the police said they have registered a complaint.

The plane suddenly tilted heavily on the left side and the altitude dipped steeply with violent shuddering of the aircraft body at 10.45 am, Gandhi's close aide Kaushal Vidyarthi wrote in a letter to state DGP Neelmani N Raju.

The letter said the weather was normal and not windy according to the passengers.

The letter hinted at intentional tampering with the aircraft and demanded thorough investigation in this regard. “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.

Gandhi is on a two-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka from Thursday to campaign for the party candidates in the districts of Uttara Kannada, Dahskina Kannada, Kodagu and Mysuru.

“Yes, we have received a complaint about some unexplained turbulence of the aircraft,” Renuka Sukumar, DCP (Law and Order), Hubbali-Dharwad Police told PTI.

The complaint that names the two pilots was filed by KPCC General Secretary Shakir Sanadi, she said.

The letter said multiple “unexplained” technical snags coupled with the failure of the auto pilot system raised serious issues of aviation safety and possible and intentional tampering with aircraft which endangered the life of its occupants.