Kolkata: Thanking the pilots of the Dassault Falcon 2000 which hovered over Kolkata airport for over an hour on Thursday during a nor’wester, CM Mamata Banerjee said on Friday, “They were excellent. They saved our lives.” She was addressing the media at Kolkata airport on Friday before her flight to Andal.CM Mamata Banerjee’s chartered flight to Andal on Friday was advanced by 45 minutes to ensure that the plane did not encounter a nor’wester en route, after she flew into one on Thursday evening. The CM’s aircraft had to hover over the city before the conditions improved and the plane was able to land.Sources at the airport said the initial itinerary of CM’s travels, submitted a couple of days ago, had scheduled her estimated departure time on Friday at 2pm. On Thursday morning, it was revised to 4pm. However, following the encounter with the thunderstorm that was accompanied by a hailstorm and a squall, it was decided that she would fly well before 4 to avoid the nor’westers that usually develop in the evening.Till an hour before the CM left her house for the airport at 2.15pm, officials at the airport were unsure if she would fly or travel to Durgapur by road. Given Thursday’s experience, the road journey alternative was kept open. But it was finally decided that she would depart early so that she reached Andal before 4pm.Meteorological officials at Kolkata airport said the sudden formation of thunderclouds over Kolkata did not give them enough lead time to issue a warning on Thursday. “The 8-10 km cloud column had suddenly formed directly over north Kolkata and North 24 Parganas, giving precious little time to alert pilots,” an official said.
