President Draupadi Murmu on Saturday undertook a 30-minute sortie in a Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter jet from Tezpur Airforce Station in Assam. The Sukhoi jet took off at 11:08 am. And landed at 11.38 am. The Airforce informed that the aircraft was flown by 106 Squadron Commanding Officer Group Captain Naveen Kumar.
Before the flight, she was briefed about the operational capability of the aircraft and the Indian Air Force. Murmu, on his part, expressed satisfaction over the preparations of the Air Force. Before Murmu, country’s 12th President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil had flown in Sukhoi in 2009. Pratibha Patil made two world records by flying in Sukhoi.
The Sukhoi-30 MKI is a twin-seater multirole fighter jet developed by Russia’s Sukhoi and built under licence by India’s aerospace giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.