IAF aircraft’s ‘hard landing’ incident: Pune airport resumes flights after 11 hours

THe runway at Pune drome was temporarily closed belatedly fri nighttime after an incident involving an aircraft of the Indian Air Force, officials said. A police officer said an IAF aircraft experienced a “hard landing”.Operations resumed 9 am onwards on Saturday, the IAF wrote on X."The runway at Pune Airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational.All necessary safety inspections and clearances have been completed. Operations are resuming in a phased manner," the post read. Earlier, the IAF wrote on X, “Pune runway is temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an IAF aircraft. The aircrew are safe and there is no damage to civil property.” It added that work is ongoing to operationalise the runway and resume normal services. What happened?According to airport officials, the incident happened around 10:25 pm when a fighter aircraft’s landing gear failed during landing, blocking the runway.Officials said a minor fire broke out but was quickly put out, and both pilots are safe.The aircraft remained stuck on the runway, leading to a temporary closure. An initial Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was issued till 5:30 am, which was later extended till 9 am after removal of the aircraft and completion of inspection and repair work.Airlines were assisting passengers with delays and diversions. Airport teams have deployed to manage crowd and provide support, including water, refreshments, and regular updates.Flights divertedFlight tracking data showed that at least eight Pune-bound flights were diverted to multiple airports, including Surat, Goa, Navi Mumbai, Chennai and Coimbatore, as operations were disrupted.Passengers experienced delays and rerouting while restoration work continued.What authorities saidUnion minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol confirmed the temporary suspension of runway operations.“Thankfully, the aircrew are safe and there has been no damage to civil property. Airlines have been informed, and it may take approximately 5 hours to restore normal runway operations,” Mohol said in a post on X.“I am in constant touch with the Airport Director and Air Force officials to ensure the situation is resolved at the earliest,” he added. Flights cancelledFlight operations were heavily affected due to the closure. Till 6:00 am, several flights were cancelled, including IndiGo (31 arrivals, 34 departures), Air India (3 arrivals, 3 departures), SpiceJet (2 arrivals, 3 departures), Akasa Air (2 arrivals, 3 departures), and Air India Express (5 arrivals, 5 departures).As per data by Flightradar24, these flights were cancelled-ArrivalsThe 6:35 am IndiGo flight 6E607 from Chennai.The 6:45 am IndiGo flight 6E5322 from Delhi.The 6:50 am Akasa Air flight QP1311 from Bengaluru.DeparturesThe 6:40 am IndiGo flight 6E391 to Bengaluru.The 7:20 am IndiGo flight 6E956 to Vadodara.The 7:25 am IndiGo flight 6E2375 to Delhi.Flights resume after 9 hoursIn an update, Murlidhar Mohol said that repair work was completed with “safety as the top priority.” Departure operations were to resume from 7:30 am, while arrival operations were to begin 8 am onwards, the minister said earlier in a post on X.Air traffic in Pune is expected to gradually return to normal through the day.