Domestic airline IndiGo has said that a flight carrying West Bengal Chief Minister was never low on fuel, and had landed on Wednesday night with more than the minimum diversion fuel. Their statement comes after Trinamool Congress leaders claimed Banerjee’s flight was delayed and made to hover over Kolkata airport for 30 minutes because of an alleged plot to kill her.
IndiGo said that an emergency landing was accidentally declared because of a “misinterpretation by ATC [Air Traffic Control]”, reported Economic Times. The pilot at no stage declared an emergency or fuel priority for the flight from Patna to Kolkata.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha told the Rajya Sabha that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will investigate the matter. “Two more planes, one of SpiceJet and other of Air India, also reported that they were low on fuel. The Kolkata ATC in a sequential order made them land (on priority),” The Times of India reported Sinha as saying.
West Bengal Urban Development Firhad Hakim had said “The pilot sought permission for landing from the ATC as the plane was flying short on fuel but the ATC kept the flight on hold. This is nothing but a conspiracy to kill our chief minister.” TMC members also brought up the issue in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Thursday. They had earlier said Banerjee was targeted because of her opposition to the Centre’s move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
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