President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday flew a sortie on the Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam. Videos shared by news agency ANI, showed Murmu taking her maiden sortie on the fighter jet, becoming the second woman president to fly in a warplane.
President Droupadi Murmu flies Sukhoi-30: watch Video
President Droupadi Murmu
The President, who is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, flew for approximately 30 minutes covering Brahmaputra and Tezpur valley with a view of Himalayas before returning to the air force station, the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.
Murmu is on a three-day visit to Assam from April 6 to 8 and was accorded Guard of Honour upon arrival at the Tezpur Air Force Station. At a height of about two kms above sea level and 800 kms speed per hour, the ‘fighter jet was flown by Group Capt Naveen Kumar, CO of 106 Squadron’.
Others presidents to fly aircraft
Although Murmu is not the first President to make a sortie in a fighter aircraft, Tezpur air force station hosted a President’s sortie for the first time. In 2009, former president Pratibha Patil had flown in the frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet from the Pune air force base. APJ Abdul Kalam and Ramnath Kovind had also made similar sorties in Sukhoi 30 fighter aircrafts at the IAF station in Pune, Maharashtra, while serving as the Presidents of India.