The runway at Pune Airport shut temporarily late on Friday night. The closure followed an incident involving an aircraft of the Indian Air Force. The IAF confirmed the situation in a post on X. It 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.”
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.@DefenceMinIndia@SpokespersonMoD…
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) April 17, 2026
The force added that teams are working to restore operations quickly.
Hard Landing Suspected
A police officer said the aircraft made a “hard landing”. However, officials did not share more details.
Airport authorities later explained what happened. The incident took place around 10:25 pm. A fighter aircraft faced a landing gear failure while landing. This caused it to stop on the runway and block it.
Hours Needed to Clear Runway
Air Traffic Control officials said clearing the runway would take time. They estimated a delay of four to five hours. "As per IAF ATC, it will take 4–5 hours to clear the runway and restore normal operations," officials said.
During this time, airport operations remained suspended.
Flights Diverted Across Cities
The runway closure disrupted several flights. At least eight flights heading to Pune had to divert to other cities. These flights landed in places like Surat, Goa, Navi Mumbai, Chennai, and Coimbatore.
Passengers faced delays and sudden changes in travel plans as airlines rerouted flights.
Government Responds
Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol confirmed the situation.
“Thankfully, the aircrew are safe and there has been no damage to civil property. Airlines have been informed, and it may take approximately 5 hours to restore normal runway operations,” Mohol said on X.
He added, “I am in constant touch with the Airport Director and Air Force officials to ensure the situation is resolved at the earliest.”
Runway operations at Pune Airport are temporarily suspended due to an incident involving an IAF aircraft.
— Murlidhar Mohol (@mohol_murlidhar) April 17, 2026
Thankfully, the aircrew are safe and there has been no damage to civil property.
Airlines have been informed, and it may take approximately 5 hours to restore normal…
Flight Cancellations Announced
The disruption also led to cancellations, as per data from Flightradar24.
Arrivals Cancelled
- IndiGo flight 6E607 from Chennai (6:35 am)
- IndiGo flight 6E5322 from Delhi (6:45 am)
- Akasa Air flight QP1311 from Bengaluru (6:50 am)
Departures Cancelled
- IndiGo flight 6E391 to Bengaluru (6:40 am)
- IndiGo flight 6E956 to Vadodara (7:20 am)
- IndiGo flight 6E2375 to Delhi (7:25 am)
Situation Under Control
Authorities confirmed that the crew remained safe and no civilian property suffered damage. Teams continued efforts overnight to clear the runway and resume normal services.
Officials expect operations to return to normal once the runway is cleared.