Pune airport runway briefly shuts after IAF fighter jets hard landing, flight operations hit

PTC News Desk: The runway at the Pune airport was emporarily shit on Friday night after Indian Air Force's fighter jet experienced a hard landing on the runway, disrupting both inbound and outbound commercial flight operations.

In a statement, the IAF confirmed that the situation occurred during a routine night flying sortie and assured that the aircrew involved were safe.

"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," the IAF said.

The Indian Air Force said on X that the runway at Pune Airport, which was temporarily closed after an incident involving one of its aircraft, has now been cleared and is operational again. All safety checks have been completed, and flight operations are restarting gradually.

Sources from the airport and police suggested that the aircraft may have had a landing gear problem while landing, which blocked the runway, though exact details are still not officially confirmed.

The incident happened around 10:25 pm, after which flight operations were stopped as a safety measure. Since Pune Airport is used for both civilian flights and Air Force operations, all commercial flights were also halted.

Air Traffic Control officials had earlier estimated it would take about four to six hours to clear the runway and resume normal services. During this time, airlines were informed, and flight schedules were affected.

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that passenger safety was not compromised and that efforts were being made to restore operations quickly.

Teams worked overnight to remove the aircraft and inspect the runway, with airport authorities and Air Force personnel coordinating closely to bring things back to normal.