Air Force Jet Hard Lands In Pune Runway, Airport Resumes Flights After 12-Hour Shutdown
An IAF Su-30MKI makes a hard landing at Pune Airport, temporarily shutting the runway before operations are restored. Image courtesy: Wikimedia commons.
An Indian Air Force (IAF) jet landed hard on the Pune Airport’s runway, disrupting civilian flights for nearly 12 hours beginning Friday (April 17) evening.
After the Air Force personnel worked overnight to clear the runway, civilian flight operations resumed on Saturday (April 18) morning, according to IAF officials.
“Pune runway is temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an IAF aircraft,” the IAF said in an X post on Friday (April 17) late at night.
“The aircrew are safe, and there is no damage to civil property. Efforts are underway to operationalise the runway and resume normal operations at the earliest,” the post added.
After the airmen worked overnight, the runway was cleared for civilian flights to operate.
“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,” the IAF posted again on Saturday (April 18) morning.
“All necessary safety inspections and clearances have been completed. Operations are resuming in a phased manner,” the post read.
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, said to be a Sukhoi Su-30MKI, remained stuck on the runway, leading to a temporary closure of the runway.
An initial Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was issued till 5:30 am, which was later extended till 9 am after the removal of the aircraft and completion of inspection and repair work.
In an update, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that repair work was completed with “safety as the top priority.”
