Major mishap averted at Tirupati airport

Tirupati: A major accident was averted at the Tirupati airport, when a fire engine overturned on the runway on Sunday afternoon minutes before an Indigo flight with 71 passengers on board was scheduled to land.

Normally, the fire crew goes for inspection before the landing of any flight. When they were on their duty before the flight's arrival, the fire engine overturned to one side.

The pilot of Indigo flight from Hyderabad detected the runway interruption in advance and diverted the flight to Bengaluru avoiding the collision on runway.

The Airport Director S Suresh told The Hans India that the reasons of the accident were not yet known. Immediately two cranes were deployed to lift the fire engine back to its normal position.

The whole process took about two and half hours after which the runway was cleared.

The passengers who reached Bengaluru airport were brought back to Tirupati by Bengaluru-Tirupati scheduled flight after nearly three-hour delay, he said.