A P J Abdul Kalam has several feats to his name, like being the first president to make a submarine sortie, but probably none as daring as a night-time flight from Aizawl airport that took off after the runway was illuminated with lanterns and torches!
This occurred one evening in 2005 when the President had completed all official engagements at Mizoram and was scheduled to leave the next morning. But a restless Kalam decided to take off for Delhi during the night, one of his senior aides recalled.
The local IAF station’s head informed there were no facilities for taking off from the airport at night. However, a dissatisfied Kalam retorted: “What if there is an emergency?
The president’s aides went to the IAF official and conveyed the message of Kalam, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces.
Finally, Kalam had his way and IAF personnel lit up the runway with the help of lanterns, flaming torches and bonfires to facilitate the take-off, the aide said.
The aides accompanying the President too were concerned about his decision to fly at night from an airport that had only basic equipment and privately asked IAF officials whether such a flight would be safe.
The answer of the IAF officials, said one aide, was enough to send a chill down their spines  – “you can take off but there may be some problems if you have to return”.
At around 9:00 pm, the Presidential Boeing took off with Kalam and his delegation of 22 members.
This incident is one his aides recall while talking about Kalam’s daredevil nature, though the 75-year-old president has also visited troops deployed on Saichen, the world’s highest and coldest battlefield and flown at supersonic speeds in a Sukhoi-30 jet. and made a sortie in a Kilo-class submarine.
Kalam’s tenure will be remembered by troops posted at the Line of Control in Kupwara in northern Jammu and Kashmir and the McMohan Line on Indo-China border as he was the first President since independence who visited them.