Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was on Tuesday forced to change his travel plans in Assam when the IAF did not oblige his request for flying him in a helicopter from Kokrajhar to Guwahati citing bad weather. The Gandhi scion then returned to Guwahati by road.

However, rejecting reports that its pilot refused to fly Gandhi, the Indian Air Force yesterday strongly defended the decision, describing it as professional, which was taken in view of bad weather conditions and safety of the passenger.