Navy's MiG-29K aircraft suffers tyre burst at Dabolim airport; passenger flights hit

Panaji, December 26

A fighter aircraft of the Indian Navy suffered a tyre burst on the taxiway at the Dabolim airport in Goa on Tuesday afternoon, just before it was to undertake a routine sortie, officials said.

Due to the tyre burst, the aircraft, MiG-29K, got stranded on the taxiway, but nobody was injured. As a result of the incident, the authorities shut the airport’s runway for operations till 4 pm, affecting the services of passenger flights, they said.

“When the aircraft was on the taxiway ahead of its routine sortie, it suffered a tyre burst. Immediately after that, the fire brigade and other services were pressed into action,” a navy spokesperson said.

The single-pilot aircraft will be moved away from the taxiway, he said.

The official did not specify the time of the incident.

The Dabolim airport, located in South Goa district, is part of the naval base INS Hansa. The facility is used by naval aircraft during certain time of the day.

“As a result of the incident, the airport runway has been shut for operations till 4 pm. The services of 10 flights were affected. Some flights were diverted to the Manohar International Airport at Mopa,” Dabolim airport’s director S V T Dhanamjaya said.