Fighter jet incident disrupts Pune airport’s night ops

Flight operations at the Pune International Airport were suspended late Friday night following an incident involving IAF fighter aircraft, believed to have crash-landed on the runway

Pune: Flight operations at the Pune International Airport were suspended late Friday night following an incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft, believed to have crash-landed on the runway. The disruption began around 11:15 pm, with arrivals and departures halted for over 30 minutes, leading to multiple diversions and delays.

Flight operations at the Pune International Airport were suspended late Friday night following an incident involving IAF fighter aircraft, believed to have crash-landed on the runway. (HT)

Confirming the development, Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke said a technical issue—possibly involving a fighter jet—had led to the suspension. “At about 22.25 hrs, a fighter aircraft experienced an undercarriage failure during landing, resulting in blockage of the runway. As per IAF ATC, it will take 4–5 hours to clear the runway and restore normal operations. There appears to be a technical problem, possibly linked to a fighter aircraft. Operations have been temporarily suspended and the runway has been closed since around 11:15 pm. At present, we cannot say when operations will resume,” he said.

In a statement on its official ‘X’ handle, the Indian Air Force said: “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. Efforts are underway to operationalise the runway and resume normal operations at the earliest.”

Due to the closure, several inbound flights were diverted to nearby airports, including Mumbai, Surat and Goa’s Mopa airport, while others were delayed or rerouted.

Passengers reported confusion and inconvenience. Sanjay Koul Arigam said his Air India flight AI1730 from Delhi to Pune was delayed and later diverted to Mumbai. “We were informed that there is a runway issue at Pune airport,” he said. Another passenger, Agha Meesam Hyder, posted on X: “Seems a runway issue (damage) because of an emergency landing, experiencing a bit of chaos at Pune Airport.”

Aviation expert Dhairyashil Vandekar said the incident highlighted the limitations of Pune’s single-runway, dual-use airport. “Flights already in the air have to hold or divert to nearby airports, increasing fuel burn and causing cascading delays across airline networks.

“On the ground, tightly planned aircraft rotations are disrupted, leading to delays, missed connections, uncertainty and overcrowding,” he said.

Meanwhile, minister of state for civil aviation and Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol said in a post on X, “Runway operations at Pune airport are temporarily suspended due to an incident involving an IAF aircraft. Thankfully, the aircrew are safe and there has been no damage to civil property.

“Airlines have been informed, and it may take approximately five hours to restore normal runway operations. I am in constant touch with the airport director and Air Force officials to ensure the situation is resolved at the earliest.”