DGCA 'clean Chit' to Panda over Flying Dangerously over Chilika
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said the allegation that former Lok Sabha MP Baijayant Panda had dangerously flown a helicopter over Chilika Lake could not be established and there was no violation of rules.
Bhubaneswar, Oct 26 (PTI) The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said the allegation that former Lok Sabha MP Baijayant Panda had dangerously flown a helicopter over Chilika Lake could not be established and there was no violation of rules.
Panda, an industrialist-turned politician who quit the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in May following his suspension for "anti-party activities", described this as "total clean chit" by the DGCA.
Panda's chopper was seized by the police on September 17 for allegedly flying dangerously over the Chilika Lake, an eco-sensitive zone in the coastal belt of Odisha.
"Based on fact and evidence, it could not be established that the helicopter has flown dangerously below the assigned altitude or have landed at Chilika Lake on September 15, 2018," the DGCA said in a letter to the director of the Bhubaneswar Airport.
The investigation concluded that there was no violation of DGCA rules and regulation, said the letter dated October 25 by M J Singh, Director Air Safety of the DGCA.
No significant deviation in the filed flight plan timings and actual timings was observed, said the letter, a copy of which was available here.
The former Kendrapara MP tweeted, "Total clean chit by DGCA on Odisha Govt's cooked up case against me & my helicopter flying, & sealing a hangar at Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar for the past 1.5 months, immobilising 3 choppers (incl 2 against which thr were no allegations whatsoever)!"
The DGCA letter said the helicopter belonging to Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA), a company owned by the Panda family, has flown non-stop cross country from Bhubaneswar Airport overflying Rajhans, Puri, Konark and finally landed at Garadpur. No other helicopter flew over Rajhans on the same day, it said.
It said the helicopter was airworthy and flight crew licences were current.
Panda's chopper was seized by the police last month for allegedly flying over Chilika Lake - an 'eco-sensitive" zone in the coastal belt of Odisha.
The Chilika Development Authority (CDA) had lodged an FIR at the Marine police station in Puri alleging unauthorised flying of a chopper at a "dangerous level" on September 15.
Panda had denied the charge and accused the state government of trying to "handicap his movement."
Police had also sealed three helicopters parked inside the IMFA hangar at Biju Patnaik International Airport here.
A senior police officer said the police have got the DGCA's report and it was being examined.
IMFA aviation head Himansu Mohapatra said they have got the report of the DGCA which is being examined.
Opposition parties such as the Congress and the BJP came down heavily on the BJD government over the episode.
"With the DGCA giving a clean chit to Baijayant Panda, it is now clear that he was dragged into a controversy out of political vendetta. This should not be the approach of a government," Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik said.
State BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said the ruling BJD has been unmasked and its real character thoroughly exposed.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)