Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Navy’s large bird lands in Vizag

— Photo:C.V. Subrahmanyam

Big and beautiful: TU 142, one of the largest and fastest flying turbo-prop aircraft in the world, making its maiden landing on the expanded runway of Visakhapatnam Airport.

VISAKHAPATNAM: It was a momentous day for the Eastern Naval Command and also for Visakhapatnam city when TU 142, one of Indian Navy’s largest maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, landed at the airport here on Monday.

The new 10,000-foot runway of the airport (Naval Air Station INS Dega), facilitated the landing of the “mighty bird” of Indian Navy, which is larger than an Airbus in size and weight and can fly non-stop over distances greater than that covered by a Boeing 747. It is also the largest and fastest flying turbo-prop aircraft in the world.

The aircraft was commanded by Gopal Natarajan and was received by L.V.S. Babu, Chief Staff Officer (operations) at ENC Headquarters. Commodore Babu presented a certificate of appreciation on behalf of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of ENC R.P. Suthan to Commander Natarajan and Commanding Officer of INS Dega G. Prakash.

“The maiden landing marks a major achievement towards enhancement of operational capabilities of Eastern Naval Command and providing greater flexibility to naval air operations,” according to an ENC press release.

The TU 142s are part of the Indian Naval Air Squadron 312 of INS Rajali, the Naval Air Station of ENC at Arakkonam (Tamil Nadu). TU 142s have participated in action in various naval operations like Operation Cactus in Maldives and Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka.

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