Video catches Anderson's flight from Bhopal
New Delhi: The co-pilot of the aircraft which flew out Warren Anderson, former chairman of the Americanchemicals firm Union Carbide Corp responsible for the Bhopal gas tragedy, says it was the Madhya Pradesh government’s decision to let the American go.
Captain Sayyed Hassan Ali, who flew out Anderson from Bhopal on 7 December 1984, says “all the messages” to fly the Union Carbide chief came from the government. "It (the order to fly Anderson) came through R S Sodhi, who was director, aviation, at that time. He asked us to keep the aircraft ready and get the clearance from the air traffic control,” Ali told CNN-IBN on Thursday. “Anderson came to the airport along with the District Collector and the Superintendent of Police,” he said. “All the messages came from the MP government--either from the Chief Minister, his staff or his secretary. They asked the crew to prepare (for the flight).”
Ali believes the Madhya Pradesh government decided to fly out Anderson. “The government should have taken the decision, whether he should have been kept here or he should be sent back to Delhi”
Interestingly, Ali was not told who his passenger and was asked to “drop him in New Delhi and come back.” He remembers Anderson looking “upset and nervous”.
The co-pilot put Anderson in a waiting car reserved for VIPs and driving him till the airport exit gate. That was the last he saw of Anderson.
CNN-IBN has accessed a video which was shot on 7 December 1984 and shows Anderson being driven to the Bhopal airport. The video shows Anderson being taken to a waiting plane at the Bhopal airport in a blue Ambassador car with a red beacon flashing on its top.
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