Navy copter catches fire at old Bajpe airport; 13 naval officers on board safe

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Dec 13, 2011 : A helicopter belonging to the Indian Navy caught fire at Bajpe Airport on Monday and those on board narrowly escaped with their lives.

The Air Traffic Control (ATC) immediately alerted the Airport Authority of India’s (AAI) fire fighting and rescue team, which rushed to the spot and doused the flames before the fire spread.

The Seaking-12 helicopter had 13 people on board and was headed from Garuda, the Indian Navy’s aviation base at Kochi, to Mumbai. It landed at the old terminal of Mangalore Airport en route at 10:45 a.m. The CISF personnel, who was on duty at that time, noticed that the helicopter had caught fire when it was on Parking Stand 1 and immediately alerted the ATC. The AAI’s fire fighting squad managed to douse the flames by 11:00 a.m.

Revealing further details, Airport Director M. R. Vasudeva told reporters that the helicopter’s rotors were switched off when the smoke was seen and that the fire fighters used less than 50 liters of foam compound to douse the flames. He said that defense helicopters routinely stop at the old airport for refueling since they carry just 30 minutes for extra fuel.

Stating that helicopters take around 260 minutes to reach Mumbai from Kochi, he said that the Indian Navy sent a technical team on a Dornier aircraft later to repair the helicopter and  take its crew members back. In the meantime, crew members were taken care of at the Indian Coast Guard station.

He also said that the Seaking will return as soon as it gets the technical green signal.