Baijayant Panda Given Clean Chit By DGCA For Allegedly Flying at Low Altitude Over Chilika Lake

Bubaneshwar, October 26: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given a clean chit to former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Lok Sabha MP Baijayant Panda, who was accused of dangerously flying a helicopter over Chilika Lake. The former MP described this as "total clean chit" by the DGCA. On September 17, Panda’s helicopter was seized for allegedly flying dangerously over the Chilika Lake which is an eco-sensitive zone in the coastal belt of Odisha.

The DGCA in a letter to the director of the Bhubaneswar Airport said, “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.” On October 25, M J Singh, Director Air Safety of the DGCA in a letter said that that there was no violation of DGCA rules and regulation. Singh also stated that no significant deviation in the filed flight plan timings and actual timings was observed.

After getting a clean chit, Panda termed it as a cooked up case against him. He 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 former BJD MP quit the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in May following his suspension for anti-party activities. On September 15, 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". Police had also sealed three helicopters parked inside the IMFA hangar at Biju Patnaik International Airport.

(With inputs from PTI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 27, 2018 12:13 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).