Flights resume at Pune airport after IAF aircraft ‘incident’

The disruption followed an incident late Friday night, which rendered the runway at Pune International Airport temporarily inoperative. In a post at 11.41 pm, the IAF confirmed that an ‘incident’ involving one of its aircraft had led to the runway’s closure, resulting in cancellations and diversions of scheduled flights.

“At approximately 2225 hrs, a fighter aircraft experienced an undercarriage technical issue during landing, resulting in blockage of the runway. As per SATCO, IAF, the aircraft became immobilised. Both pilots are safe,” the press release added.

“Due to the aircraft’s position and damage, a NOTAM was issued for temporary runway closure until 0530 hrs, later extended to 0900 hrs to facilitate safe removal, inspection, and restoration. The aircraft was cleared from the runway around 0545 hrs,” it further said.

IAF officials said that as per procedure, a court of inquiry has been instituted to establish the cause of the incident.

The impact on flight operations was significant. Multiple flights across airlines were cancelled, including 31 arrivals and 34 departures by IndiGo, six flights by Air India (three arrivals and three departures), five by SpiceJet (two arrivals and three departures), five by Akasa Air (two arrivals and three departures), and 10 by Air India Express (five arrivals and five departures).

According to flight tracking data from FlightRadar24, at least eight incoming flights were diverted to airports in Surat, Goa (Manohar International Airport), Navi Mumbai, Chennai and Coimbatore.
Passengers faced considerable inconvenience as the disruption led to last-minute cancellations, diversions, and a lack of timely updates.

Varsha Kamble, a resident of Satara travelling with her family, including a three-year-old child, said she has been stranded at Hyderabad airport after her connecting flight to Pune was cancelled. She had been returning from Bagdogra in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district.

“We were supposed to depart from Hyderabad at 3 am, but were informed upon arriving in Hyderabad that the flight had been cancelled due to the runway closure in Pune. The alternative being offered is to travel via Bengaluru and then to Mumbai, which is inconvenient, especially with a three-year-old child.

We are not getting clear updates on whether we will get a direct flight to Pune from Bengaluru. That would have made it easier for us to return to Satara,” she said.