Pilots' error to blame for near-crash of Rahul's plane: DGCA

Aviation regulator DGCA has blamed error on part of the pilots for the near-crash of Congress president Rahul Gandhi's chartered plane at Hubli in North Karnataka earlier four months back.

On April 26, the 10-seater plane carrying Gandhi suddenly tilted heavily on the left side and the altitude dipped steeply with violent shuddering of the aircraft body before landing at the Hubli airport in north Karnataka.

Besides Gandhi, there were four other passengers, two pilots, one cabin crew and one engineer when the incident took place, according to the DGCA.

The incident, which took place during the campaigning for the assembly polls in the state, had triggered a political uproar, with the Congress alleging an "intentional tampering" with Falcon 2000 private jet.

The party had demanded a probe into the "suspicious and faulty performance" of the aircraft.

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu had then ordered a detailed probe into the incident.

In its report made public today, the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) said, "(the) Crew initiated action only when the master cautions warning i.e after 15 seconds of autopilot disengage."