Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday welcomed the naval aircraft - TU-142 M long-range maritime patrol aircraft - which landed at INS Dega (the naval base in Vizag) for the last time. The aircraft, decommissioned recently, would be handed over to the AP government later and converted into a museum on the beach road here.
Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapati Raju and Vice-Admiral H.C.S. Bisht, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, participated in the ceremony.
The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) would co-ordinate all activities relating to the proposed aircraft museum on behalf of the state government. The aircraft is likely to be dismantled and transported by road on trailers and re-assembled on the beach road near Kursura sumarine museum.
The Chief Minister said it would be an added tourist attraction in the port city.
Earlier, the Chief Minister interacted with the family members of the five naval personnel from the state who lost their lives when the Indian Air Force AN-32 aircraft went missing last July. He consoled the family members and handed them cheques of Rs 5 lakh apiece as ex gratia.