April 14, 2026 08:47 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
'ECI deviated from Bihar procedure': Supreme Court raises concerns over voter deletion in Bengal SIR | Noida workers’ protest turns violent: Stones pelted, vehicles damaged over wage hike demand | Oil prices jump above $103 a barrel as US moves to block Iran-linked shipping | I don’t care if they come back or not, says Trump after Iran talks collapse | Legendary singer Asha Bhosle suffers cardiac arrest, hospitalised | Big boost to India–Mauritius ties: S. Jaishankar hands over 90 e-buses | Middle East tension: Iranian delegation arrives in Islamabad for major talks, 10,000 security personnel deployed | Ranveer Singh visits RSS HQ amid Dhurandhar 2 success, triggers speculation | ED raids ex-Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee; SSC scam resurfaces ahead of polls | Amit Shah promises UCC, ₹3,000 aid per month for women and youth in BJP’s Bengal manifesto
Rajiv Gandhi | Sanjay Gandhi
Image: Rajiv Gandhi with mother Indira Gandhi and brother Sanjay Gandhi/ credit: Wikimedia Commons

Sanjay Gandhi was warned by brother Rajiv against flying the plane he crashed in: Rahul

| @indiablooms | Sep 03, 2021, at 01:55 am

New Delhi/UNI: Sanjay Gandhi, the elder son of Indira Gandhi, was warned by Rajiv Gandhi that he should not fly the plane in which he crashed, leading to his death, Rahul Gandhi said in a video on Thursday.

In a video released on his official YouTube handle, Rahul Gandhi was seen taking a tour of a photo exhibition on Rajiv Gandhi at the Indian Youth Congress office.

He also talked about how he shares the passion for flying with his father.

Talking about risks involved in flying, he said: "Look if you’re a pilot. That's a risk you take. You take it. So, my father told my uncle..."

"Because my uncle was flying a particular type of plane - it was a Pitts. It's a very aggressive plane. My father told him that you know, don't do this. My uncle really didn't have the experience. My uncle had similar hours to what I have about 300-350 hours. And, he shouldn’t have been flying that plane. And, he flew it. And that's what happens when you don't have the experience and you fly. It's easy to kill yourself," Rahul Gandhi said.

Sanjay Gandhi was flying a S-2A Pitts aircraft which crashed killing him on June 23, 1980.

Gandhi revealed that he is also a trained pilot, and he learnt flying when he was in college.

"When I was in College I learnt how to fly. I remember we once went to Jaipur, Udaipur and then we went to Bombay and then we went to Srinagar as well," he said.

He said the DC 3 was his and Rajiv Gandhi's favourite plane. He also said that one of the big regrets Rajiv Gandhi had was leaving flying.

"One of his big regrets was that he left the airline and couldn't fly the bigger jets," Rahul Gandhi added.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.