Congress alleges 'international tampering' with Rahul's aircraft

The Congress on Thursday hinted at intentional tampering with party president Rahul Gandhi's special flight to Hubli.

Gandhi's aide Kaushal Vidyarthee sent a complaint letter to Karnataka Director General of Police and Inspector General of Police Neelamani N Raju and demanded to investigate the incident and ground the aircraft till the investigation is completed.

According to the complaint; Gandhi along with Vidyarthee, Rampreet, Rahul Ravi and SGP official Rahul Gautam was travelling to Hubli from New Delhi on April 26, 2018 in a special flight (VT-AVH).

'The flight, which took off from New Delhi around 9.20 am, faced unexpected technical errors. At around 10.45 am the flight suddenly tilted heavily on the left side and the altitude dipped steeply, combined with the violent shuddering of the aircraft body.

'It is to be stated that the weather outside was sunny, normal and not windy as per observation of the passengers and as per the forecast for the day,' said the complaint.

It added that a clanking sound was clearly audible from one side of the plane throughout the shuddering of the aircraft body.

'It was also learnt that the autopilot of the aircraft was not functioning. After two attempts, the plane finally landed at Hubli around 11.25 am while continuously shaking and making unusual audible sounds,' the complaint said.

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

'Serious questions related to intentional tampering with the aircraft cannot also be brushed aside and are required to be addressed and investigated,' the complaint demanded.

Later, Directorate General of Civil Aviation said 'it was snag of autopilot mode and pilot shifted to manual and landed safely'.

'Such autopilot incidents are not uncommon. For any VIP flight, the DGCA examines in detail. We shall do here also,' it said.    -- ANI