MANGALORE: Thirteen personnel on board aSeaking helicopter of the Navy had a miraculous escape when it caught fire after landing at the Bajpe airport here on Monday. Alerted by theATC, rescue and fire fighting personnel of the Airports Authority of India rushed to the site and put out the fire.
The Seaking-42 helicopter that was on its way from Kochi to Mumbai landed at the old terminal at 10.45 am and taxiied to the apron. When the helicopter was on parking stand 1, CISF personnel noticed smoke near the rotors that had stopped at 10.56 am and reported it to the ATC.
MR Vasudeva, Mangalore airport director, said the helicopter's rotors were switched off when the smoke was seen and the rescue and fire fighting personnel used less than 50-litres of foam compound to douse the fire.Defence helicopters landing at the old airport for refuelling while overflying Mangalore is routine, he said, adding they normally carry just 30 minutes of extra fuel on such sorties.Indian Navy sent a technical repair crew on its Dornier aircraft later in the day to carry out repairs and to transport the crew, he said.
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