Travelling in flights is quite normal and a routine for the politicians. However in Covid times the travel has reduced. But what is it when a flight becomes a memorable one. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) MP Dayanidhi Maran boarded a flight from Delhi to Chennai on Tuesday, which turned a memorable one, as described by the politician on Twitter.
What was the reason for it? The reason was that one MP was boarding the flight and the other MP was incharge of the cockpit. His pilot was none other than Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
Maran described the chance meeting with the fellow MP on Twitter in a thread titled “A Flight to Remember.”
When pilot Rudy surprised Maran
Dayanidhi Maran boarded the Indigo flight 6E864 from Delhi to Chennai after attending a meeting of the parliamentary Estimates Committee.
“So you are traveling in this flight as well!” said a person dressed in the Captain’s uniform. I could not recognize him with his mask on, although his voice sounded familiar. I nodded my head, still wondering who it could be,” Maran tweeted.
He looked at me and his eyes gave away the smile behind the mask. So you don’t recognize me!” he exclaimed. I realized then that it was none other than my colleague, senior member of parliament and former Union Minister- my very good friend Thiru Rajiv Pratap Rudy!, Maran said in another tweet.
Maran added that just 2 hours ago, he and Rudy were part of intense discussions at the Estimates Committee and now he couldn’t believe his eyes, seeing his transformation from a politician to a pilot.
“I was pleasantly surprised and told Rudyji that I couldn’t believe that he was going to be the captain flying us from Delhi to Chennai. He laughed and said “Yes, I noticed that you didn’t recognize me, I fly frequently!” the DMK MP said in another tweet.
Thank you Captain Rudy for flying us safely, tweets Maran
“I could only say that I was honoured to be flown by my good friend and colleague. Rudyji also served as a Minister of State, when my father was the Union Minister for Commerce. A flight to remember indeed! How often does a sitting Member of Parliament captain a commercial flight? I’m sure I will be talking about this for a long time. Thank you Captain @RajivPratapRudy, MP for flying us safely from Delhi to Chennai!,” the DMK leader tweeted.
Mr Rudy flies Airbus A320-321. He was Civil Aviation Minister in 2003. This is his fourth term as an MP in the Lok Sabha.
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