Pilots of Rajnath Singh’s take-off in darkness grounded

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Tuesday said the two pilots of the chartered plane that took off with BJP president Rajnath Singh from Jharkhand’s Dumka airstrip in darkness last month, were reprimanded and grounded for 15 days.
‘Investigation revealed that the aircraft took off after sunset, in violation of safety guidelines and Visual Flight Rules. Based on the investigation, both pilots were grounded for 15 days and were given a warning,’ Patel said in a written reply during the question hour in the Rajya Sabha.
Patel said the Dumka airstrip was an unregulated facility and investigations had revealed that though vehicles’ lights were on at the time of the take-off, they were not used for lighting runway for departure of the aircraft.
24/11/09 IANS/Trak.in

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Nov 2009, Safety Nov 2009