Close shave for Jet Airways flight after ATC spots tractor on Mangaluru runway

Agencies

January 11, 2018

A massive disaster was barely averted on Thursday when the Air Traffic Control at the Mangaluru Airport spotted a vacant tractor parked on the runway just as a Mumbai-bound Jet Airways flight was about to takeoff.

According to news agency ANI, the tractor - used for cutting grass beside the runway, was parked at the end of the runway without anyone inside. A Jet Airways flight had taxied to the other end of the runway and was all set to take off before being issued urgent instructions to abort by the ATC.

Sources in the ATC reportedly said that the unmanned tractor was spotted at the last minute and while planes do not usually make full use of a runway, a parked vehicle here is nonetheless a massive breach of safety protocol. Besides, the Mangaluru airport is referred to as having a table-top runway in aviation circles. In 2010, an Air India Express plane had overshot the runway here and fallen off the cliff - killing 158 people on board.

Also Read: Mangaluru airport director rubbishes media reports, says there was no vehicle on runway

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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