Chennai airport’s main runway blocked for an hour, DGCA orders probe

There were some slight delays in the arrival and departure of some planes, according to authorities. | Photo credit: FILE PHOTO

The main runway at Chennai airport could not be used for flight operations on Friday morning for nearly an hour as a plane failed to take off and remained stranded at one end of the stretch.

The secondary runway has been put into service. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation safety regulator, has ordered an investigation into the incident.

According to Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials, at 10:14 am, the plane that was scheduled to depart from the city airport for Dubai reached the Guindy end of the main runway (runway 25 end) to take off. “Once at the Guindy end, the pilot wanted to turn around and then take off. But we are not sure why the pilot could not turn around and stopped the plane. Soon after the incident, the aircraft engineers had to be called and the towing tractor of the aircraft was brought in. It took almost an hour and the plane took off around 11:10 am,” a source said.

During this period, with the secondary runway being available, some flights were handled from it, officials said. Sources at the airport said there were some minor delays in the arrival and departure of a few aircraft.

“With the main runway blocked for the past one hour, the DGCA will investigate the issue. We will then know if the pilot committed a mistake or if there was a technical or other glitch involved in the incident,” an official said.