GUWAHATI: Forty-five years after former Prime Minister Morarji Desai had a miraculous escape from an air crash at the Tekelagaon village in upper Assam’s Jorhat district, his handwritten letter, drafted in praise of the medical staff of the Air Force Hospital, Jorhat, is now available for public viewing at the district museum.
Morarji walked out of the wreck of the aircraft, Tu-124 (V-643) Pushpak, but five pilots of the Indian Air Force lost their lives. The aircraft had crash-landed on a paddy field on the outskirts of Jorhat town. Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister PK Thungon, former Intelligence Bureau chief John Lobo and Morarji’s son Kantibhai Desai were on board the flight. The unfortunate incident occurred on November 4, 1977, when the PM was coming to Jorhat on an official engagement.
