An Indigo airlines flight from Patna with West Bengal Chief Minister onboard made an emergency landing at the Kolkata airport on Thursday morning after the pilot complained of fuel shortage.
Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy, who was travelling along the West Bengal CM told a leading news channel that even on being informed about the fuel shortage, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) denied permission to the pilot for landing. He said that the flight took-off from Patna at an hour’s delay and was made to circle the airport seven to eight times before landing due to congestion.
He further added that the pilot had informed the ATC about the fuel shortage at around 8:13 AM and the flight landed at around 8:40PM. Upon landing, the flight was surrounded by a host of fire tenders and ambulances.
Another TMC leader, Firhad Hakim, who was also on board with Banerjee said that the fire tenders had been deployed anticipating a ‘crash landing’. He claimed that it could be an attempt to kill the CM as she was protesting against the harassment of common people.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata airport authorities have launched an investigation into the matter. IndiGo airlines is yet to make a statement regarding the matter.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was in Patna on Wednesday to hold a road show protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation scheme. “Modi has snatched the freedom of people to live. By demonetisation, he has snatched rights of roti (food), kapda (cloth) and makaan (house) from the people,” she said while addressing the rally at Gardanibagh area of Patna.
Prior to Patna, Banerjee also staged protests in New Delhi and in Lucknow. While her move was welcomed by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar had made it clear that he would not take part in rally by the TMC chief.
