MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's seaplane flight from Sabarmati river to Dharoi+
dam in Mehasana district has come under controversy as it flouts certain safety and security norms laid down for VVIP travel.
The Kodiak 1000 seaplane aircraft that the PM boarded is a single-engine aircraft, while the norms dictate that VVIPs should only travel in multi-engine aircraft. A multi-engine aircraft is a far safer mode of transport than a single-engine one, because in the former type of aircraft an engine failure wouldn't call for a crash landing.
The Kodiak turbo prop aircraft with a fixed tricycle landing gear, which can fly only up to 10,000 feet and so doesn't have a pressurized cabin is not the kind of aircraft used for VVIP travel, let alone ferry the Prime Minister.
Soon after the PM's flight, Omar Abdullah, leader of Opposition in Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly tweeted: "Single engine plan. Foreign pilots, is there any security guideline that will not be thrown out today?''
The PM's return journey too is scheduled by the same sea plane flight. The route that the sea plane travelled too was a first, never before has a sea-plane carried out non-scheduled flight operations from Sabarmati River.
The aircraft was brought in by Spice Jet which signed a MoU with Japan's Setouchi Holdings two months ago to explore the opportunities for seaplane flights in India. On Saturday it was in Mumbai where it flew from the Mumbai airport to land in Girgaum Chowpatty, a flight that had to be delayed by over an hour because of poor visibility.
The Kodiak 1000 seaplane aircraft that the PM boarded is a single-engine aircraft, while the norms dictate that VVIPs should only travel in multi-engine aircraft. A multi-engine aircraft is a far safer mode of transport than a single-engine one, because in the former type of aircraft an engine failure wouldn't call for a crash landing.
The Kodiak turbo prop aircraft with a fixed tricycle landing gear, which can fly only up to 10,000 feet and so doesn't have a pressurized cabin is not the kind of aircraft used for VVIP travel, let alone ferry the Prime Minister.
Soon after the PM's flight, Omar Abdullah, leader of Opposition in Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly tweeted: "Single engine plan. Foreign pilots, is there any security guideline that will not be thrown out today?''
The PM's return journey too is scheduled by the same sea plane flight. The route that the sea plane travelled too was a first, never before has a sea-plane carried out non-scheduled flight operations from Sabarmati River.
The aircraft was brought in by Spice Jet which signed a MoU with Japan's Setouchi Holdings two months ago to explore the opportunities for seaplane flights in India. On Saturday it was in Mumbai where it flew from the Mumbai airport to land in Girgaum Chowpatty, a flight that had to be delayed by over an hour because of poor visibility.
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