Fact Check: Did Biju Patnaik Fly This Particular Dakota To Rescue Indonesian Leaders?

Bhubaneswar: With the iconic Dakota (DC-3) VT-AU1 aircraft back in Odisha, the rich aviation history of the state will soon be on display at Terminal -1 in the international airport named after former chief minister Biju Patnaik here.

The Airports Authority of India has allotted 1.1 acres of land for this purpose at the BPIA here.

Here are some facts about ‘this aircraft’, whose dismantled parts were brought to Bhubaneswar in three vehicles on January 18.

>> The 8-tonne and 65-foot-long aircraft bearing registration no. W-AU1 belonged to erstwhile Kalinga Airlines, which was founded by late Biju Patnaik.

>> This aircraft, named Alpha Uniform India, was ordered by the US. It was first flown in February 1944 and then at the European front for about four months. One of the most successful military transport aircraft, Dakotas were widely used by the allies during World War II. These were slow planes, which could land and take off from anywhere, even in water. Following the Japanese incursion into Burma, Dakotas were used as Cargo planes in the eastern front since road routes via China were cut off. Twenty airfields, including the ones at Jharsuguda and Charbatia, were built on the eastern front for the purpose.

>> This particular aircraft was stationed at Chakulia airbase in West Bengal and used as a cargo plane. It was also used for flying sorties over China.

>> After WW II, the US and British airforce began destroying their fleets, later they changed their mind and sold them for anything between Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000. Biju Patnaik owned four of these.

>> This aircraft was bought by Indian Overseas Airways and sold to Nalanda Airways. Air India Survey then bought the aircraft and used it for its ariel mapping project. Once the project got over, Biju Patnaik brought it on lease and flew it under the Kalinga Airlines banner.

>> The airlines had 14 Dakota VT-AVI aircraft. Nine of them crashed. The old, dilapidated and abandoned aircraft, which is now in Odisha, was lying in a remote part of the operational area of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata for decades. The one used by Biju Patnaik to evacuate Indonesian prime minister Sutan Sjahrir and vice president Mohammad Hatta from Jakarta, which was then under the Dutch and British forces, is kept at a museum in Indonesia.

>> Biju Patnaik took this particular aircraft on lease much after the Indonesia operation, which happened when he was putting up in Singapore and flew supplies to Indonesia under a ‘mercy mission’ contract with the International Red Cross and was asked by  Jawaharlal Nehru to fly one of his Dakotas to rescue them.

(With Inputs From Historian Anil Dhir)