AAI clarifies CM’s aerial survey time
A day after a section of media raised questions on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s flying time during an aerial survey of flood-affected areas on August 31, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Thursday clarified that Patnaik flew for 19 minutes during the aerial survey.
The AAI said Patnaik’s flight departed from the Bhubaneswar airport at 3:42 pm and landed back at 4:01 pm.
“All the timings given with respect to flight movements are UTC only,” it said.
The actual flying time excluded warm-up time, startup time at apron and taxi time to runway and return to apron after landing, the AAI added. Some sections of media had questioned the authenticity of flood assessment done by the Chief Minister during the aerial survey.
