Plane aborts takeoff to take in minister

Kolkata/Ranchi: Union minister for food processing Subodh Kant Sahay allegedly forced an airline to reopen the aircraft door after reporting late for the Kolkata-Ranchi flight on Friday morning. The flight took off 20 minutes behind schedule, thanks to the ruckus.
Sahay and his aide reached the airport barely five minutes before the scheduled departure of the Kingfisher Airlines flight and demanded to be let on board. By then, the CJR aircraft was ready to taxi with 10 passengers seated and its door secured for the flight.
Sahay allegedly told Kingfisher staff that the return flight would be grounded in Ranchi if he was not allowed to board. “We tried to explain how difficult it is to reopen the door and fit the ladder. But after his threat, we didn’t have any option but to comply as he holds tremendous clout there,” an aircraft staff said. Sahay is an MP from Ranchi.
When TOI contacted Sahay in Ranchi, he brushed the allegations aside, saying it was a minor matter. “I had checked in over the internet, had the boarding pass and reached the airport 13 minutes prior to departure. The airline staff should not have had any problem,” he said.
Eyewitnesses, however, said the minister barged into the security check area, pushed aside passengers in the queue and then demanded to be allowed to board. Although CISF jawans frisked him, he did not wait for the hand baggage to clear the X-ray machine and boarded the coach before the security gate.
27/09/08 Arpit Basu & Sonali Das/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Sep 2008, Kingfisher Sep 2008, Safety Sep 2008