Biju’s Dakota Aircraft on its Way

Bhubaneswar: The Dakota aircraft of Biju Patnaik is s c h e d u l e d t o r e a c h Bhubaneswar airport on January 16. It will depart from Kolkata on January 14 and will reach on January 16,  Bh u b a n e swa r a ir p o rt director Prasanna Pradhan said. The aircraft has been dismantled by a team of e x p e rts a n d w i l l b e transported by road. After its arrival, the aircraft will be a ss e m b l e d a t S t a t e  government’s hanger in the airport which has been
named after the former chief minister, Pradahn added. The historical aircraft had been lying in a dilapidated
condition for decades at the airport in Kolkata. The former CM had used this plane to rescue the then prime minister of Indonesia Sutan Sjahrir in 1947, historian Anil Dhir said. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already
allotted 1.1 acres of land where the Dakota plane will be displayed for public viewing. Officials at Odisha’s commerce and transport department said that a fourmember team has been assigned to dismantle the Dakota (DC-3) VT-AUI
aircraft, which is about 64 feet 8 inches long with its wings stretching to 95 feet. The team will restore, reassemble and do the renovation work at the airport here, the officials said. Efforts to transport the aircraft to Odisha were made in the last two years, and tender was also floated for the initiative, but the COVID-19 pandemic had stalled the plan, a senior official said. Besides being a social reformer and politician, Biju Patnaik was a skilled pilot who undertook high-risk missions.

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