The Indian Air Force on Wednesday said the refusal by its pilot to fly Rahul Gandhi from Kokrajhar to Guwahati in Assam was because of safety reasons and it strongly stands by the decision of its officer.
“Based on the prevailing weather and approaching sunset, the pilot taking the safety of the VIP as being paramount, arrived at the decision that it was unsafe to undertake the flight,” IAF spokesperson Wg Cdr Gerard Gallway said.
“The pilot’s decision was taken using his professional judgement in the interest of safety of aircraft and its occupants.
“IAF strongly stands by the decision of the pilot, since flight safety and the safety of the VIPs on board are considered paramount,” he said.
Due to the refusal by the pilot to fly, the Congress leader had changed his travel plans for reaching Guwahati from Kokrajhar.
“The last leg was planned from Kokrajhar to Guwahati around 1700 hours and the weather at Guwahati was reported as continuous rain, lightning and thundershowers, with two cumulonimbus (CB) cells overhead and in the vicinity of the airfield,” Mr. Gallway said.
The weather at diversionary airfield Hashimara and en route from Kokrahar to Guwahati was also overcast with low clouds and widespread rain patches, he said, adding the helicopter has still not been able to return to Guwahati due to continuing bad weather.
Mr. Gandhi was on a day’s trip to the state on Tuesday to meet victims of ethnic violence in relief camps and held discussions with Bodoland Territorial Council leaders on the prevailing situation in Assam.
Keywords: Rahul Gandhi Assam visit, IAF, VIP safety
BJP take note. Misuse of official machinery. Rahul is not a minister of the Government, does not hold any position in the Government of India or Assam. Using IAF for personal or party purposes is against the norms. Will the Congress party reimburse the Governemnt for such use? Can such information be obtained under ROI?
Why should Rahul Gandhi be flown by IAF? He is just a political leader and not a minister.
One doesn't expect an answer from the authorities to this question.
I wonder if Rahul Gandhi actually protested the officers decision (as it is made out in this report). The report appears to suggest that Rahul was somehow protesting the decision, but is not clear from the report. Maybe the appropriate title for this story should have been: "Bad weather forces Rahul Gandhi to stay put" or something like that. But of course, that will not have much media attention.
First of all Rahul Gandhi is just an MP.Is he, as an MP entitled for a special IAF Helicopter.First of all this issue is to looked into.Just Being a member of Nehru family does make one entitled for a special IAF air craft? What is the criteria used to allocate IAF air crafts.Who is going to foot the bill? Nobody cares what happens to Rahul Gabdhi.But people are worried about the safety of the IAF air crafts and it's crews.Many many million rupees of tax payer's money is being spent to procure Helicopters , train the pilots, crews and the maintenance staff. Why to risk the safety of air crafts and it's crews to avoid little inconvenience to a Person like Rahul Gandhi.If he wants to visit any place he should use Private helicopters not IAF air crafts. we have seen what happened to his Uncle Sanjay Gandhi because of his irresponsibly and arrogantly disregard air safety rules.
It is unfortunate that a professional decision of the competent professional (IAF Pilot)was in the first place questioned simply because it was not liking of Mr. Rahul Gandhi and his tour organisers. Subsequent hue and cry by his followers compelled the IAF Authorities to intervene and issued clarifications.
What a sheer arrogance of P M in waiting!
we all have witnessed some serious accidents of vip's,like andhra pradesh & arunachal pradesh tragedy in the recent past.personally it was a wonderful decision by the pilot,not to fly in unpleasent conditions with some important Vip's on board,especially personality like Rahul Gandhi.
Good decision. Shouldn't risk the life of a good pilot and a helicopter for a politician!
It is disheartening to see billions of rupees spent for purchasing aircraft for national security is being used for personal security.
Defense forces should be used for national security rather than personal security of VIPs. The same is true for National Security Guards.
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