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An Avro for the President

By Pranab Dhal Samanta

NEW DELHI JAN. 21. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was forced to fly to Kolkata on Monday in an outdated Avro aircraft after the Air Force officials detected a technical snag in the Boeing-737 scheduled for him.

Dr. Kalam was to fly in one of the two Boeing-737s with the VIP Squadron.

The other Boeing-737 was taken by the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, who left on a foreign tour on Monday at 8 p.m. Dr. Kalam, who was to depart just after Mr. Advani, was unlucky.

The slow-moving Avro took an extra hour to reach its destination. Confirming this, the Air Force spokesperson said the aircraft was a standby and it was better to fly him in it rather than take a chance in a technically unsound Boeing-737.

Dr. Kalam had the choice of waiting for a couple of hours for the snag to be rectified or taking the Avro, sources said.

According to Air Force sources, such contingencies only stressed the need to revamp the VIP Squadron. A proposal to this effect, which, among other suggestions, has asked for six new executive class jets, is pending with the authorities concerned.

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