All flight operations at Goa's Dabolim International Airport have been suspended for two hours following a fire incident caused by a detachable fuel tank, which fell off a naval fighter aircraft, spilling fuel on the runway, an AAI spokesperson said.

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 Capt D K 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.
Airport operations are likely to commence at around 4 pm. A spokesperson for the airport said that Indian Navy personnel were at the site, cleaning the fuel from the runway and carrying 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.


Watch Goa Airport Reopens after Fuel Spill from MiG-29K Tank Causes Fire on Main Runway With HD Quality.