Biju Patnaik’s Iconic Dakota aircraft reaches Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The iconic Dakota aircraft once owned by Chief Minister Biju Patnaik has finally reached Bhubaneswar from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata.

For years, the plane was lying in a dilapidated condition at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. For the past couple of years, efforts were on to bring the precious possession back to Odisha.

On Wednesday, three lorries were engaged to transport the dismantled aircraft from Kolkata to Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA).

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik welcomed the aircraft showering petals on it at BPIA. Delighted Patnaik said, “I am happy that the legendary aircraft of Biju Babu has finally returned to Odisha. He had many historic and brave deeds in this aircraft, the greatest of which was when he flew to Indonesia through the Dutch locations to rescue the independence leaders. The only other person in the aircraft was my mother who was his co-pilot.”

The dismantled aircraft would be reassembled and displayed on 1-acre of land near BPIA allocated by the Airport Authority of India.