New Delhi: The two pilots of a helicopter, which flew Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, were on Thursday given a virtual clean chit by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
They were accused of violating air safety rules while landing the chopper.
“The pilots were cleared after the DGCA’s Air Safety Wing in the Capital found that the helicopter had landed at 1725 hrs IST when visibility was two kilometers and light conditions satisfactory,” the officials told PTI.
The sources also maintained that the two pilots had “no discussion” with any passenger (including Rahul) on board or anyone on the ground while landing at Sitapur.
They said a final verdict on the matter would come only at the conclusion of the enquiry and claimed that the pilots have not been de-rostered.
Earlier, reports had said that the two pilots had been taken off duty to enable them to appear before the DGCA.
Rahul on Tuesday sought to stave off a controversy that he had forced the pilots to land the helicopter in poor visibility conditions.
“I am a pilot and I am absolutely aware of the dangers of flying in low visibility conditions. I will be the last person to do it,” he said in Lucknow.
However, Sitapur District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar had claimed that the chopper had landed after sunset in poor visibility even as the UP government shot off a letter to the Centre over alleged violation of security norms during Rahul’s visit to the state.
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