With the Congress demanding a probe into the “suspicious and faulty performance” of the plane that developed a technical snag while flying to Karnataka with party president Rahul Gandhi on board, the Karnataka police said they had registered a complaint. In its letter to the Karnataka Police chief, the Congress mentioned “unexplained technical failures” in the Rahul Gandhi flight and said “intentional tampering cannot be brushed aside”.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in New Delhi it would examine the issue.

Gandhi was on his way to Karnataka for a two-day visit as part of the last leg of campaigning for upcoming Assembly elections. He is scheduled to hold rallies in the districts of Uttara Kannada, Dahskina Kannada, Kodagu and Mysuru.

The plane suddenly tilted heavily on the left side and the altitude dipped steeply with violent shuddering of the aircraft body at 10.45 am, Gandhi’s close aide Kaushal Vidyarthee wrote in a letter to state DGP Neelmani N Raju.

The letter said the weather was normal and not windy.

“Yes, we have received a complaint about some unexplained turbulence of the aircraft,” Renuka Sukumar, DCP (Law and Order), Hubbali-Dharwad Police told PTI.

She said, “We have registered a complaint under Section 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC.”

The complaint that names the two pilots was filed by KPCC General Secretary Shakir Sanadi, she said.

According to the letter, there were a total of three other passengers in the aircraft besides Gandhi and the complainant Vidyarthee – Rampreet, Rahul Ravi and Special Protection Group officer Rahul Gautam.

Alleging the aircraft’s auto-pilot mode was not functional and the aircraft could be landed only after two unsuccessful tries as it was “shaking and making unusual audible sounds”, the letter pointed to a possible “intentional tampering” with the aircraft’s functioning.

“The technical snags coupled with the failed auto-pilot system raise issues of aviation safety and intentional tampering which endangered the life of the passengers,” it added.

“A clanking noise was clearly audible from one side of the plane throughout the shuddering of the aircraft body,” said Vidyarthee.

Complaint to the DG&IG of Police, Karnataka, regarding the serious malfunction of the aircraft carrying Congress President @RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/P3RJwkWOMR

— Congress (@INCIndia) April 26, 2018

The plane landed at the Hubbali airport around 11.25 am in the third attempt, according to the letter.

“The crew was also apparently petrified and admitted that the flight was particularly frightening and uncommon,” it said.

In New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that demanded a thorough investigation into the “serious case of aviation mechanics failure”, including the possibility of a “foul play”.

“Today Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other passengers were travelling by special flight from Delhi to Hubli. At about 10.45 am, the auto-pilot was lost off the flight. The flight tilted on one side and took a nosedive.

“For a few minutes, this special flight was off-the-radar. There was a lot of shuddering, although the weather outside was normal and sunny. On the third attempt, the flight finally landed at Hubli,” he said.

“It was then informed that the auto-pilot had failed, also the radars of the flight had partially failed.”

Surjewala also pointed out that usually when an SPG protectee is travelling, the complete details of the pilotsand the aircraft are submitted to the DGCA and the SPG.

“Only when all of these are cleared, then the flight plan is okayed. This is a serious case of aviation mechanics failure,” he said.

A senior DGCA official said, “The operator has reported the incident to us (DGCA). According to the operator’s report, it was a snag of auto pilot mode and the pilot shifted to the manual (mode) and (the aircraft) landed safely.”

“Shutdown of auto pilot (mode) incidents are not uncommon. For any VIP flight, the DGCA examines it in detail. We shall do that here also,” the official said.

Citing the report from the Air Traffic Controller, a senior official at the Hubbali airport said the plane had landed safely.

(With agency inputs)