The iconic Dakota aircraft, the witness to the heroics and undaunted courage of the legendary Biju Patnaik, is beautified and will soon stand tall to showcase the imprints of the former Odisha CM's valiant endeavours at the Biju Patnaik International Airport.
The plane is set to get its fuselage, wings and engine before being installed at the airport.
“The colour and other beautification works of the plane, which was brought from Kolkata, is going on in full swing and will be completed soon,” said Aerospace Research Development Center, General Manager, Debasish Mohanty.
As per reports, the Odisha government has planned to display the iconic plane at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) from March 5, as an ode to the late CM Biju Patnaik as the day marks his birth anniversary and is celebrated as Biju Jayanti and the Panchayatiraj Diwas.
The repair and installation work is currently undertaken by the Bhubaneswar-based Aerospace Research and Development Center at a whopping cost of Rs 3 crore. Hopefully, the beautification work will be completed by March 5.
Worth mentioning, the Dakota aircraft was brought from Kolkata in a dismantled manner on January 18. Escorted by Odisha Police, three lorries carried the dismantled portions of the plane from Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport to the Odisha capital.
(Reported by Kapilendra Pradhan, OTV)