Mumbai airport flights affected after IAF aircraft overshoots runway

An AN-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) overshot the main runway of the Mumbai airport late Tuesday night, affecting flight operations. The main runway was closed for around 17 hours after the 11.39 pm incident, affecting dozens of flights and was handed back for operations at 4.50 pm Wednesday, sources said. The aircraft was taking off for the Yelhanka Air Force base near Bengaluru when the incident took place.

Efforts to move the aircraft began after daybreak. The incident forced airport officials to switch flight operations to the lesser-capacity secondary runway. As the main runway normally handles most flights, a large part of the operations was affected, with dozens of flights delayed, the sources said.

A Defence spokesperson said the aircraft abandoned take off in view of a technical issue and overshot the runway. "The aircraft and crew are safe. A recovery team arrived in Mumbai Wednesday and the plane  was cleared from the runway," he added.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the country's second busiest airport after New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, has two crossing runways: 09x27 (main runway) and 14x32 (secondary runway) which handle over 1,000 arrivals and departures per day.