Deccan Aviation breaches PM's security

NEW DELHI: Deccan Aviation on Monday defended its pilot who landed a helicopter at a place in Bilaspur from where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on an election tour of Himachal Pradesh, was about to take off, and claimed he had taken necessary clearance from authorities and was not told of Singh's movement at that time.

A spokesperson of the aviation company said the helicopter impounded by the police at Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh was on a scheduled flight and was cleared by the Air Traffic Control and Air Defence authorities.

"The necessary clearance by ATC and the Air Defence had been taken," the spokesperson said.

However, on approaching Bilaspur, the helicopter landed "close to some IAF Helicopter. On landing, the pilot was told by the local police and Special Protection Group people that this helicopter had flown the Prime Minister to Bilaspur," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson claimed the information regarding the movement of the Prime Minister was not provided to the pilot.

The aviation company wanted a thorough probe to "ascertain as to where the lapse was committed. It is also important that necessary steps or procedures should be initiated to avoid similar incidents in future," the spokesperson said.