Biju Babu’s Dakota arrives to floral welcome from Naveen

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday offered a floral welcome to the iconic Dakota aircraft his father legendary Biju Patnaik had flown to rescue the then Indonesian Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir in April 1947.

The dismantled Dakota (DC-3) VT-AUI aircraft arrived here in three trailers during the evening hours. The CM showered flowers to welcome it and said he is happy that Biju Babu’s historic Dakota has finally reached Bhubaneswar.

“Biju Babu had done many daredevil acts with the help of this aircraft. The best  among them was liberating the Indonesian freedom fighters from the Dutch. With him, there was only one co-pilot - my mother Gyan Patnaik,” he said.

Escorted by Odisha Police, the 64.8 ft long plane that weighs around eight tonne was brought from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata to Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar.

The state government has engaged a specialised team to reassemble the dismantled parts for display at BPIA where the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has allotted 1.1 acre of land. Minister Ashok Panda, Transport secretary Usha Padhee, 5T secretary VK Pandian were present among others.