Aviation regulator DGCA starts probe into Rahul Gandhi plane incident

The senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said the Hawker 850 XP aircraft VT-KNB returned back to Delhi after take-off due to a technical snag

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA has initiated a probe into the incident of the plane carrying Congress President Rahul Gandhi suffering engine trouble, a senior official said. The plane on way to Patna was forced to return to Delhi on Friday after experiencing "engine trouble".

Engine trouble on our flight to Patna today! We’ve been forced to return to Delhi. Today’s meetings in Samastipur (Bihar), Balasore (Orissa) & Sangamner (Maharashta) will run late. Apologies for the inconvenience. pic.twitter.com/jfLLjYAgcO

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 26, 2019

The senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said the Hawker 850 XP aircraft VT-KNB returned back to Delhi after take-off due to a technical snag. "DGCA has initiated investigation as per the laid down procedure," he told PTI. The aircraft landed safely in Delhi at 1020 hours. There were ten person on board including two crew members, the official said. On Twitter, Gandhi posted a video of the flight which shows him, the pilot and the co-pilot in the plane. "Engine trouble on our flight to Patna today! We've been forced to return to Delhi," he tweeted.

In Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi has so far addressed rallies in Wardha, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Nanded and held an interactive session in Pune with students. When asked if the Congress central leadership had ignored Maharashtra and Mumbai for campaigning, Milind Deora, the party's Mumbai unit chief stated, "That's not true. Maharashtra has a huge Congress presence and some of the most influential Congress leaders have come to the state for campaigning."

More than 3.11 crore voters spread across these seats located in North Maharashtra,  Thane, Mumbai, Palghar and parts of Western Maharashtra, are eligible to cast their vote. The constituencies voting on April 29 are: Dhule, Dindori, Nandurbar, Nashik (North Maharashtra), Bhiwandi, Palghar, Kalyan, Thane (located on Mumbai's outskirts), Mumbai North, Mumbai North-West, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai North-East, Mumbai South and Mumbai South-Central, Maval and Shirur (Pune district) and Shirdi (Ahmednagar district).

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