Vienna, Oct 5: In a rare honour, two Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets escorted the Air India One aircraft carrying President Pratibha Patil as it entered the Austrian airspace.
Within seconds of entering the Austrian airspace from Switzerland yesterday, two mean looking and gleaming jets appeared suddenly on the left side of the President's plane.
Had the people on board including journalists not known before about the fighters escorting the plane, many would have skipped a heartbeat to see the combat jets right next to them.
Within seconds, those inside the Presidential aircraft started shooting the jets in frenzy. But, only with their mobile phones and cameras.
The jets are one of the latest combat aircraft that was also used in the Libyan war to bomb Muammar Gaddafi's strongholds.
The Eurofighters are one of the shortlisted contenders in the Indian MRCA tender to purchase 126 "Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft". The other competitor remaining in the race is the French Rafale fighters.
After about two minutes, one of the jets suddenly pulled back and flew to the other side of the aircraft.
From the flight attendants to the security on board and journalists, everyone was just interested in getting the perfect shot of the plane which in between also opened its co-passenger shield as a mark of respect.
But the best view was just before the landing as all three aircraft lost altitude and the jets were just at an arm's length. One could see the fighter pilot sitting inside the cockpit. PTI
