Indian Navy's MiG-29K fighter jet suffers tyre burst in Goa

A tyre of a naval fighter jet burst on the taxiway, prompting authorities to shut down the airport’s only runway for around two hours. Fire tenders responded to the incident to prevent any fire. No injuries were reported.

A fighter jet belonging to the Indian Navy suffered a tyre burst shortly ahead of takeoff from Goa's Dabolim airport. The warplane, a MiG-29K, was about to take off for a routine sortie when the incident took place on the airport's taxiway, the officials said.

The MiG29K was on the taxiway around noon when its tyre burst, prompting the pilot to request emergency services. Fire tenders responded to the incident to prevent any fire. No injuries were reported.

Officials said that as a result of the incident, which left the damaged combat aircraft stuck on the taxiway, passenger flight operations at the airport were delayed until 4 pm. "The aircraft experienced a tyre rupture when it was on the taxiway before to its usual sortie. The fire department and other services were called into action right away," a Naval official stated, according to PTI.

Meanwhile, a total of 16 flights at Goa International Airport were diverted and delayed on Tuesday. Six flights were diverted while the remaining flights reported two hour delays as naval authorities attempted to remove the stricken fighter jet using cranes. The disruption in flight schedules marred the holiday spirit and travel plans for the New Year.

Though the Dabolim airport is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) like other civilian airports, it is situated on Indian Navy's INS Hansa naval base. The airport is situated in South Goa district.

The MiG29K fighter squadron is based at INS Hansa, which is the Indian Navy’s most important fighter base on the west coast. Aside from the fighter jets, the air base is also home to the long range maritime surveillance aircraft the Boeing P8I aircraft.