NEW DELHI: Security agencies here are questioning an American pilot and his woman compatriot who allegedly strayed from their permitted route from Karachi to Delhi and landed at Patiala in Punjab ignoring all warnings.
Airport sources here said the pilot, J Armstrong and his copilot flying a single engined, ‘Bonanza” left Karachi on April 15 and were to go to Calcutta via Delhi.1
Instead of proceeding towards Delhi, the sources said that the couple who were tourists flew towards Patiala and landed there at 0930 hours that day.
The couple told security agencies in Chandigarh where they were later flown that they landed at Patiala as the aircraft had developed a snag in one its wheels.
The sources said that Armstrong and his copilot were moved to Delhi on April 18 and the air craft had also been stationed at the Delhi station.
The security agencies the sources said were taking a very serious view of the incident and were trying to ascertain if the couple had deliberately deviated from the permitted route and flown over sensitive installations.
The sources said that a resident of Patiala, who also owns a “Bonanza” aircraft, had entertained the couple at his residence. The security agencies felt that the couple should not have been allowed to move out of the Patiala airport, the sources added.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 27, 1990
