IAF institutes court of inquiry into aircraft incident as flights resume at Pune airport

“Following the repairs, the first arrival (Fly91 from Mopa) landed at 0858 hrs, and the first departure (SpiceJet 937 to Delhi) departed at 0917 hrs. Flight operations have now returned to normal,” a press release issued by the Pune airport director stated.

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 the 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.

The impact on flight operations was significant. Multiple flights across airlines were cancelled, including 35 arrivals and 38 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), in addition to 12 flight diversions.

Passengers faced considerable inconvenience as the disruption led to last-minute cancellations, diversions, delays, and a lack of timely updates.