Flights delayed after IAF jet breaks down in pune

Pune: As the tyre of a fighter jet broke during a practice session at Pune airport Monday morning, the timetable of aircraft flying into and out of Pune till the evening went awry. Sixteen flights were delayed and three flights were diverted but no flight was cancelled.

Ajay Singh, director, Pune airport, said that the airport belonged to defence and there used to be practice sessions of fighter jets on a regular basis. He said, “Generally, civil flights start at around 11 am. At around 11.30 am, the tyre of one fighter jet broke and it took around 2 hours to clear the runway. Hence, the flight arrivals and departures got delayed by a few hours. But no flight was cancelled.”

Around 1,900 passengers were affected by the delay in flights. As per the statement issued by Pune airport, 16 flights were affected due to runway closure from 11.20 am to 1.30 pm.