Kolkata, 01 April (H.S.) : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s helicopter was once again affected by inclement weather on Wednesday after it failed to land at Nabagram in Murshidabad district due to heavy rain and strong winds.

According to preliminary information, the Chief Minister was travelling to Nabagram by helicopter after addressing a public meeting at Baran (Boroña) in the same district. Although the weather was normal at the departure point, conditions deteriorated near the Nabagram meeting venue, making it unsafe for landing.

At around 2:10 pm, Banerjee had taken off for Nabagram, but the pilot decided against taking any risk due to adverse weather conditions and safely returned the helicopter to Baran.

The Chief Minister later chose to travel to Nabagram by road to attend the scheduled public meeting. Earlier, there were apprehensions that the programme might be cancelled because of the weather, but she proceeded to the venue by car.

This is the second such weather-related disruption involving the Chief Minister’s aircraft in recent days. Last Thursday, her flight from Andal airport to Kolkata was also affected by a sudden spell of storm and rain.

The aircraft had taken off at 3:39 pm and was scheduled to land in Kolkata around 4 pm. However, worsening weather conditions over Kolkata, including heavy rain and gusty winds, prevented a timely landing. The pilot reportedly made multiple attempts while prioritising safety.

After circling in the air for nearly one and a half hours, the aircraft finally landed safely at Kolkata airport at around 5:19 pm. Following the incident, the Chief Minister had praised the pilots for their alertness and professional handling of the situation.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh