Nashik: Deputy CM Eknath Shinde‘s Jalgaon-Mumbai chartered flight was grounded on Friday evening after the pilot’s flying-hour restrictions kicked in, but officials said special permission was secured for him to operate the flight after a kidney transplant patient sought help to reach a Mumbai hospital before midnight, reports Abhilash Botekar.Though she made it, the transplant was postponed because of organ unavailability, following which she returned by road with her husband.Shinde, attending a religious event, was delayed beyond the scheduled 7.15pm departure, leading to the pilot’s hours running out. Around this time, minister Girish Mahajan, who was with Shinde, got the SOS about the woman who had missed her flight. The Jalgaon collector said at this point, special permission was sought for the pilot to operate the flight with Shinde and the couple.Jalgaon collector Ayush Prasad said: “Sheetal Borde, 43, needed a kidney transplant and was urgently called to the hospital in Mumbai. She was told to arrive there before Friday midnight. She, however, missed the flight from Jalgaon and sought assistance from the chief minister medical assistance cell to travel to Mumbai by road — a distance of 430km that would need eight hours to cover. Dy CM Shinde, who was to travel to Mumbai, facilitated her transportation in his chartered flight.”Shinde was in Jalgaon for the departure of Sant Muktai Palkhi from Muktainagar to Pandharpur. When Shinde returned late at 8.45pm, the pilot said he could not fly the plane. “Multiple options were discussed. The Dy CM was ready to stay overnight in Jalgaon and travel by flight in the morning, or if required, a pilot from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar would have been arranged,” the collector said.As for Borde, she would lose out on the transplant if she didn’t make it. “Water resources minister Girish Mahajan, who was accompanying the Dy CM, received the information. After discussions, we decided to seek permission from civil aviation authorities to allow the pilots to fly the plane after completing the mandatory procedures, including a medical check-up. Finally, the 12-seater plane took off with the Dy CM, Sheetal and her husband, Anand,” the collector said.
