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
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
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