DGCA team inspects Rahul Gandhi’s chartered plane, black box

HUBBALLI: A two-member team of DGCA began inspection of the chartered Falcon 2000 aircraft in which AICC chief Rahul Gandhi and some others travelled along with his security men from Delhi to Hubballi. The aircraft reportedly had made a rough landing at Hubballi airport on Thursday. The Gandhi scion had later left for Ankola in a chopper.

The team, led by Deputy Director of Air Safety, Joseph, inspected the aircraft for more than six hours and also downloaded information from the black box. It will throw more light on whether the flight developed a technical snag. The aircraft was made to taxi on the runway a few times as the team wanted to check for ‘abnormal noises’ which were heard when Rahul was on board.  

Hubballi Police Commissioner M N Nagaraj told The New Indian Express that the police have not started investigations as the issue is technical. “We will take action after DGCA team submits a report. Police have not detained anyone. One Friday, we recorded the statement of the pilot and crew,” he said. Rahul’s aide Kailash Vidyarthee wrote to Karnataka police stating that the in-flight systems malfunctioned and they experienced an unsafe landing. An FIR has been registered at Gokul Road police station.