TU-142M receives a formal welcome at INS Dega

The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu welcomed the TU-142M long range maritime patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy which landed at INS Dega for the last time recently. A special ceremony organised at INS Dega to formally welcome the aircraft at Visakhapatnam was attended by P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Civil Aviation Minister, Vice Admiral H.C.S. Bisht, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, and others. The Andhra Pradesh government had earlier requested the Ministry of Defence for allotment of one de-inducted TU-142M for converting it into a museum.

The request is being processed at the Ministry of Defence. The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) would be coordinating all activities related to aircraft museum. The TU is likely to be dismantled and transported by road on trailers and reassembled on the Beach Road near Kursura Submarine Museum.