President Droupadi Murmu flew a sortie on a Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter plane at the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam on Saturday. Murmu took her maiden flight on the fighter jet, becoming the second woman president to fly in a warplane, according to videos shared by the news agency ANI.
The President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, flew for about 30 minutes over the Brahmaputra and Tezpur valleys with a view of the Himalayas before returning to the air force station, according to a tweet from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Murmu is in Assam for three days, from April 6 to 8, and was greeted with a Guard of Honour upon his arrival at the Tezpur Air Force Station.
In the visitor’s book, Murmu elaborated on the ‘exhilarating’ experience, writing, “It is a matter of pride that India’s defence capabilities have expanded enormously to cover all the frontiers of land, air, and sea.” The ‘fighter jet was flown by Group Capt Naveen Kumar, CO of 106 Squadron’ at a height of about two kilometers above sea level and a speed of 800 kilometers per hour,’ according to the President’s official Twitter handle.
Although Murmu is not the first President to fly in a fighter plane, Tezpur air force station was the first to host a presidential sortie. Former President Pratibha Patil flew in a frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet from the Pune air force base in 2009.
While serving as Presidents of India, APJ Abdul Kalam and Ramnath Kovind flew similar sorties in Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft at the IAF station in Pune, Maharashtra.
President Murmu attended Gaj Utsav at Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) in Assam on Friday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Project Elephant. Officials said she took a jeep safari inside the central range of Kaziranga National Park before launching the ‘Gaj Utsav-2023’ (elephant festival) on the second day of her Assam visit. The event was attended by Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Murmu also launched the ‘Mount Kanchenjunga Expedition-2023’ in Guwahati.
