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.