Navy chopper catches fire at Mangalore Airport, no-one hurt

[email protected] (CD Network, Photos by Ahmed Anwar )

December 12, 2011

Mangalore, December 12: In what could have been a major catastrophe, as many as 13 Navy crew had a miraculous escape after a fire broke out aboard the Navy Sea King helicopter as it was taxiing for take-off at Mangalore Airport on Monday morning.

The crew included six high level officers of the Navy.

The incident occurred five minutes after the chopper landed at the airport. However, the fire was doused immediately and the crew evacuated safely.

The Southern Naval Command-based helicopter had arrived in Mangalore from Kochi on its way to Mumbai on a routine flying sortie.

In a statement issued to the media, Mangalore Airport Director M R Vasudeva Rao has said that the helicopter landed at the Airport for refueling at 10:45 am.

“When the chopper was on parking stand-1, a smoke was observed near the Rotors and was report to ATC Tower by CISF personnel at 10:56 am”, he said.

Mr Rao said that the rescue and firefighting services belonging to Airport Authority of India was immediately altered by Air Traffic Control and the fire which was developed, subsequently was put off by them using foam extinguishing media in concurrence with Air crew at 11: 00 am.

All the 13 personnel on board the helicopter were evacuated to safety, he said.

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Why Mangaluru Could Become India’s Next Offshore Wind Energy Hub

News Network

February 3,2026

Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta has urged the Centre to give high priority to offshore wind energy generation along the Mangaluru coast, citing its strategic importance to India’s green energy and port-led development goals.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha under Rule 377, Chowta said studies by the National Institute of Oceanography have identified the Mangaluru coastline as part of India’s promising offshore wind ‘Zone-2’, covering nearly 6,490 sq km. He noted that the region’s relatively low exposure to cyclones and earthquakes makes it suitable for long-term offshore wind projects and called for its development as a dedicated offshore wind energy zone.

Highlighting the role of New Mangalore Port, Chowta said its modern infrastructure, multiple berths and heavy cargo-handling capacity position it well as a logistics hub for transporting and assembling large wind energy equipment.

He also pointed to the presence of major industrial units such as MRPL, OMPL, UPCL and the Mangaluru SEZ, which could serve as direct buyers of green power through power purchase agreements, improving project viability and speeding up execution.

With Karnataka’s peak power demand crossing 18,000 MW in early 2025, Chowta stressed the need to diversify renewable energy sources. He added that offshore wind projects in the Arabian Sea are strategically safer compared to the cyclone-prone Bay of Bengal.

Calling the project vital to India’s target of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, Chowta urged the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to initiate resource assessments, pilot projects and stakeholder consultations at the earliest.

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