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US plane will sit in Ahmedabad till Bangkok replies

The two-seater United States-made aircraft, grounded in Ahmedabad since March 17, will take off only after the Centre verifies from Bangkok that the plane had indeed been used for agriculture and irrigation surveys, as stated by its two-member crew.

According to sources, two senior officials from the directorate general of civil aviation, New Delhi, arrived at the Sardar Patel International airport Tuesday to take stock of the situation. The central government is now ascertaining the veracity of the statement made by the two members that, after the survey, they were going to Karachi, on their way to Dubai, via Calcutta.

The DGCA had cleared them for landing in Calcutta.

Sources said it was also being investigated whether the plane had passed through Jamshedpur and Nagpur during the course of its journey, and why it disappeared from the radar screen for more than two hours. The plane was reported to have already reached Karachi where it could not land due to high winds, encircled the airport for half-an-hour, and due to shortage of fuel, returned for unscheduled refuelling in Ahmedabad.

The crew, Captain Garry C J Cooper, a Briton, and Navigator J M Condong, an Australian, are staying at a hotel since March 17. Their respective high commissions are reportedly inquiring about them, sources said.

UNI

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