After flight snag, Rahul got call from PM

New Delhi/Bengaluru: The DGCA has set up a two-member panel to probe the technical snag in a chartered plane carrying Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to Karnataka even as the Civil Aviation Minister said appropriate action would be taken if anyone is found wanting after the opposition party alleged foul play.

As the Congress described the incident as "horrific" and "serious" and demanded a probe to find out if there was any "foul play", party sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Rahul Gandhi just before leaving for China on Thursday to inquire about his safety.

A Civil Aviation ministry official said it would be too premature to conclude any "intentional tampering" as alleged by the Congress.

The incident happened during landing of the flight from New Delhi at Hubballi in north Karnataka on Thursday. The Congress president was travelling to Karnataka as part of his poll campaign.

Alleging "intentional tampering" with aircraft, the Congress party yesterday demanded a probe into the "suspicious and faulty performance" of the 10-seater Falcon 2000.

Police probing the technical snag is awaiting the arrival of technical experts to examine the problem and submit a report while a senior airport official maintained there was nothing "unusual" in the manner it landed in Hubbali.

"The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set up a two-member panel to investigate the incident. While one member is from the Directorate of Air Safety, the other member is from the Directorate of Airworthiness," a senior DGCA official said.

The panel has been asked to submit its report in the next 2-3 weeks, the official added.

As part of the probe, the official said the panel would call cockpit crew and also engineers for questioning about the incident.

If required, the committee might also call the operations staff of the particular aircraft to gather details, the official said.

A senior DGCA official on Thursday confirmed that the aircraft had suffered a "technical snag".