TIRUPATI: A fire tender of the Tirupati International Airport, which was on a routine check of the runway, tilted to one side on the runway on Sunday morning forcing the airport authorities to divert the morning flights scheduled.
The runway was cleared for landing and take-off after two-and-half hours. Around 9.30 am, the fire tender was on a routine check of the runway when it skidded and tilted.
According to Tirupati Airport Director S Suresh, they immediately alerted the pilot of a scheduled flight from Bengaluru about the mishap on the runway and the Indigo flight went back to Bengaluru. "In two-and-half hours, the fire tender was cleared from the runway and the operations resumed. The flight which returned to Bengaluru landed at Tirupati after clearance was given,'' Suresh said.