NEW DELHI: The seaplane in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on a spectacular ride on the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat election, came to India from Karachi on December 3.
UK.Flightaware.com, a flight tracking website said that the seaplane, a Quest Kodiak 100, a privately-owned, has the US registration number N181KQ, operated by a foreign pilot, made a pit-stop at Karachi earlier this month. On December 3, the flight took off from Karachi and landed in Mumbai. From there, the flight flew to Ahmedabad.
From there, it took off on December 3 and landed the same day in Mumbai, from where it flew to Ahmedabad on Monday. PM Modi took off in the seaplane from the river Sabarmati and landed at the Dharoi Dam, about 180 km away.
John Goulet, the pilot who flew the seaplane, described his VIP rider as “a very good passenger”.
The 35-minute ride by the Prime Minister in a sea plane had become fodder for the opposition which alleged that PM had violated security rules. This is because the seaplane was a single-engine. The security rule-book says that Prime Minister can only fly in twin or multi-engine aircraft.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi, called the seaplane ride “a distraction from key questions,” and questioned Mr. Modi that “what did you do for Gujarat in 22 years.”?