VIP tantrum puts air safety at risk - PM seeks report, deputy CM unapologetic after flight from Leh is delayed

OUR BUREAU

Artistes perform at the Hemis festival, held every year at the Hemis Gompa monastery in Ladakh, in the last week of June. Nirmal Singh was in Leh to attend another annual festival, the Sindhu Darshan. (PTI)  New Delhi, July 2: The Narendra Modi government was today rushing to shield itself from middle-class ire after a minister used his VIP status to delay flights in a manner that not only showed arrogance but also raised questions on flight safety. The Prime Minister sought a report from the Union civil aviation ministry this evening after minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju, and the deputy chief minister of the Jammu and Kashmir government were recorded having a tiff with passengers and the crew of an Air India flight from Leh on June 24 that was delayed to accommodate them. The VIPs were taken onboard the flight that was delayed while an Indian diplomat travelling with his family was not allowed to enter the aircraft that was on a Delhi-Leh-Srinagar-Leh-Delhi flight. Landings and take-offs from Leh, at a height of more than 10,000 feet, are dictated by the weather and the availability of oxygen in the air. Kiren Rijiju As the temperature increases, the air gets warmer and rises, leading to lower air pressure and low-density air near the ground. This means there is relatively less oxygen per unit volume to be used by the aircraft engines for combustion. As such, air traffic control has warned against take-offs of civilian flights from Leh after 10.35 in the morning by when the sun is out and the availability of oxygen for the intakes of large aircraft is doubtful. Attempting to take off after the deadline puts the lives of the passengers and crew at risk. However, depending on factors such as cloud cover, the take-off time can be stretched a bit if the pilot concludes that it is risk-free. The particular flight was originally scheduled to take off at 11.15am Junior home minister Rijiju, who also apologised in interviews for inconveniencing passengers, denied that he was the cause of the delay. But the report of the Indian Air Force, which is in charge of the Leh airfield, shows the aircraft's departure was delayed refers to the minister. "On 24 Jun 15, AI-446 was to depart at 1020h as per revised schedule (scheduled ETD - 1115h). The aircraft landed in time from Delhi and passengers started boarding for the return flight to Delhi. In the meanwhile, 21 Wg ATC was contacted by the Airport Director requesting a delay in departure to accommodate a VIP (MoS MHA). The flight eventually departed at 1112h," said the report. The 21 Wing Air Traffic Control monitors landings, take-offs and overflights at Leh. MoS MHA is short for minister of state, ministry of home affairs. The report said that three passengers, G.V. Srinivas, G.V. Neelam and G.V. Dhruv Aryan were not allowed to board the aircraft as they came late. Srinivas, a joint secretary with the external affairs ministry, and his family were on a personal visit to Leh where a relative who is with the air force, Squadron Leader Ajay Gupta, is stationed. The IAF found from the airport authorities that the captain of the Air India flight 446, R. Saharan, "came out of the aircraft prior to the arrival of the VIP and interceded on behalf of passengers and also told them that the delay is not due to any fault of Air India". In a separate complaint against the pilot to the Union civil aviation minister, Ashok Gajapati Raju, Nirmal Singh wrote: "On the same pattern of rural bus service, I experienced that pilot dictated the time of departure and arrival and also the passengers to board the plane (sic)". Singh failed to understand that it is indeed the responsibility of the pilot - the captain - to decide on when to shut the doors and take off. The plane was already nearly 40 minutes past the deadline for take-offs from the high-altitude airfield. Nirmal Singh Home ministry sources said Rijiju was scheduled to take a BSF helicopter on June 24 from Leh to Jammu and from there a flight to Delhi. "But because of bad weather the BSF helicopter could not take off from Jammu and the Leh administration was asked to book a ticket in the last flight from Leh to Delhi. This is normal routine arrangement in bad weather for this kind of situations for VIPs protocol," said a senior official attached to Rijiju office in North Block. He sought to explain that the minister was not aware of "off-loading" of the three passengers. "The three passengers were not allowed to board and it was never informed to the minister. This step would have never been appreciated if brought to the notice on the same day," the official said. Another official in North Block said the three passengers were not allowed to board only to accommodate the VIP passenger Rijiju who was accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh. "By the time Rijiju's car reached the tarmac, the pilot had already closed the aircraft's door. But Air India received a request for a delay in departure to accommodate the VIP passengers," the ministry official said. "The pilot came rushing down from the aircraft ladder and told Rijiju that it was not appreciable to delay the departure of the aircraft. This angered Singh who got into a verbal duel with the pilot and threatened to teach him a lesson," the official said. After nearly three minutes of argument the pilot relented and allowed them in. "But the heated argument between the pilot and Singh started again inside the aircraft once the door was closed. It was then some passengers came to the rescue of the pilot and protested against the VIP culture and also recorded the argument on their mobile cameras," the official said. Sources in the ministry said the pilot was "stern" in his approach irrespective of the presence of a VIP and played by the rulebook. "In fact, the fault lies with Singh who tried to browbeat him, flaunting his political status. But still that did not deter the pilot who stuck to his ground and tried to convince them that what they did was simply wrong and concerns the security of so many passengers," another official said. Union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju said he was sorry that passengers were inconvenienced. Raju said the "indefensible" incidents should never have happened. "Whatever has happened should not have happened... I need to get to the truth," Raju said. Junior home minister Rijiju told PTI: "Air India, being a government PSU, we as ministers, have the moral responsibility if any passenger has undergone any inconvenience. We must say sorry to them on behalf of the government and ensure that such incidents do not occur in future." Singh, the deputy chief minister, said he was in Leh to attend the Sindhu Darshan festival and had booked the return tickets the same day by an Air India flight "which was to depart at 11.20 am". "Around 9.53am, when I was performing rituals on the banks of the Sindhu, I received a message from some official that the Air India flight has reached early and is ready to depart," he said in a complaint to Raju. Singh said the ceremony was concluded early at his request and he reached the airport at 10.48 am. "I collected my boarding pass where in the time for boarding was written as 10.40am but to my surprise, the pilot had closed the doors of plane. "The order of the pilot to close the door was wrong so I rushed to the tarmac. Pilot Mr Saran instead of apologising for his wrong actions rushed down from the ladder and created a dramatic situation and rudely behaved," Singh said in his complaint.