Goa flights delayed after blaze caused by dropped fighter jet fuel tank

The Indian Navy reported the fuel tank came off a MiG-29K fighter during takeoff, causing the blaze

fire at Goa airport 
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Flights into and out of Goa International Airport in India were delayed on Saturday after a fire caused by the fuel tank of a military aircraft becoming disconnected during take off.

The official account for the spokesman for the Indian Navy reported that a fuel tank came off MiG-29K multirole carrier-based fighter aircraft during takeoff. The account shared images of a column of black smoke rising over the runway at the airport.

“All efforts in hand to resume flights ASAP. Mig-29k fighter aircraft is safe,” the account reported. By 4 pm local time, local media reported that flights had resumed.

According to several flight tracking services, flights from 1 pm local time were delayed by at least two hours.

Two flights to the airport scheduled to land around 2.50pm local time were diverted to Mumbai airport or Ahmedabad.

The airport confirmed the news and said that the terminal would be shut for at least two hours.

The Indian navy operates two squadrons of MiG-29k aircraft, both based out of Goa, totalling 45 fighters.

India is the main user of the fighter with the Russian Navy also operating a smaller number.