Panaji: All flight operations at Goa's Dabolim International Airport were suspended on Saturday for two hours following a fire incident caused by a detachable fuel tank, which fell off a naval fighter aircraft and spilled fuel on the runway, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson said.
The airport reopened after an hour, the spokesperson confirmed.
A portion of the main runway of the airport caught fire after a drop tank of a MiG-29K aircraft fell down from the jet while it was taking off, Navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma said. This led to minor damages to the landing and take-off strip.
"Due to jettisoned fuel tank on the runway during MiG sortie the operations are closed for two hours at Goa airport. Pl bear with us," Airport Authority of India (AAI) Goa tweeted on its official Twitter handle on Saturday afternoon.
Spokesperson Navy: Goa Airport closed temporarily for a few hours in view of fire caused by a drop tank of MiG 29K which got detached whilst taking off. All efforts in hand to resume flights as soon as possible. MiG 29K fighter aircraft is safe. (Pic courtesy: Spokesperson Navy) pic.twitter.com/dpPbMhBodV— ANI (@ANI) June 8, 2019
A spokesperson for the airport said that Indian Navy personnel were present at the site and helped clean the fuel from the runway. They also carried out repair along the stretch.
"These are external fuel tanks outfitted to aircraft in order to enable them to cover more distance. One such tank attached to a MiG-29K got jettisoned off the jet during a sortie and landed on the runway," the spokesperson told IANS.
The airport is operated from Indian naval base INS Hansa located in the South Goa district.
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