US plane may be cleared in a week

AHMEDABAD, March 24: The American aircraft remained detained at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport for the eighth day on ...

AHMEDABAD, March 24: The American aircraft remained detained at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport for the eighth day on Wednesday.

Sources said it might take a couple of days before the authorities got a clearance from the Director General of Civil Aviation DGCA, New Delhi.

They said the investigative team which inspected the aircraft and interrogated the pilot on Tuesday, comprised a woman officer from the Research and Analysis Wing Home Ministry, J S Wazir, deputy director, DGCA and intelligence officers of South Western Air Command SWAC, Gandhinagar.

They said the team went to Space Applications Centre and met director Dr A K S Gopalan. According to the sources, SAC officials told the team that since no reel was found in the camera, the aircraft could not have been used for espionage.

The sources said the team left for New Delhi on Tuesday and submitted a report to Director General of Civil Aviation today. Now, Director General of Civil Aviation was likely to forward the same to the Civil Aviation Ministry which, in turn, will forward it to the the Ministries of Home and Defence for scrutiny. Only after that, a final decision would be taken, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar said in New Delhi that the the aircraft8217;s intrusion into Indian airspace was being 8220;closely examined8221; and reports from various investigating agencies, including the Director General of Civil Aviation , were expected within a week.

8220;I don8217;t want to part with piecemeal information. Air traffic security is an important matter,8221; Kumar said when asked about detention of the turbo-prop two-seater aircraft at Ahmedabad since March 17, at a Press conference organised by the Airports Authority of India AAI. To a question whether the intrusion was similar to that in the Purulia arms dropping case which had embarrassed the Government, Kumar said, 8220;Ahmedabad case is a freak incident and all aspects are being examined. I can get back to you only after it is completed.8221;

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The private survey plane was impounded and the two-member crew taken into custody here on the charges of intruding into Indian airspace on March 17. To another query, Kumar said steps were underway to open airports in Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad, Amritsar and Guwahati to foreign traffic.