Murmu, who was on a three-day trip to Assam, reached Tezpur from Guwahati. She was received at the air base by Air Marshal S P Dharkar, Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
After landing at Tezpur, Murmu received a guard of honour by IAF personnel, followed by an official briefing on her flight aboard the Sukhoi aircraft. She then reached the hangar wearing the flying suit, and waved to the waiting journalists before climbing the ladder to board the aircraft.
After sitting in the cockpit, a woman officer helped her put on the helmet and complete other technicalities. She waved from the cockpit just seconds before the aircraft canopy was shut.
Alighting from the aircraft after the 25-minute sortie, she again posed with the group captain and waved to the waiting journalists.
Murmu is the third president after APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil to take a sortie in a fighter aircraft. Her predecessors, however, had taken their rides from Pune air base.
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