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<\/div>\nImphal airport: Three flights were delayed and two were diverted<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Imphal\/New Delhi: <\/b><\/p>\n
Three flights in Imphal airport sat on the tarmac for over three hours and two incoming flights took a diversion towards Kolkata and Guwahati after the air traffic controllers reported an unidentified flying object near the runaway.<\/p>\n
The airport authorities immediately closed the “controlled airspace” in Manipur’s capital Imphal and stopped all flight operations. Some 1,000 passengers were affected by the airspace closure, sources said.<\/p>\n
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) handed over the airspace control to the Indian Air Force (IAF) before the IAF gave the all-clear to restore the airspace for commercial flight operations, people with direct knowledge of the matter told NDTV, requesting anonymity.<\/p>\n
The air traffic control (ATC) and people on the ground saw the drones around 2 pm, after which the three flights – two Air India, and an IndiGo flight – were told not to take off, sources said. Around the same time, two incoming flights were diverted, they said.<\/p>\n
The incident was seen as disturbing amid the tension in Manipur following months of ethnic violence between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis. Several groups had used drones during the violence. In neighbouring Myanmar, the junta forces have been launching airstrikes against Chin State rebels along the border with India.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe flights that had been diverted are likely to reach Imphal tonight as the airport – although surrounded by hills – has night-landing capability. The flights which were diverted will be operated today as watch hours have been extended, sources told NDTV.<\/p>\n
Imphal airport director Chipemmi Keishing in a statement confirmed the sighting of the drone. The officer said all the three flights took off after the “competent authority” gave security clearance.<\/p>\n
Passengers told NDTV many of them had been inside the airport and some inside the aircraft for over three hours from 3 pm, until the flights took off one after another around 6.15 pm.<\/p>\n
“Boarding was completed by 3 pm, but we finally got the take-off clearance at 6.10 pm. Passengers were worried and some elderly people anxious, but everyone was extremely cooperative and patient,” a woman who boarded an Air India flight to Delhi told NDTV on phone.<\/p>\n
Another passenger in the Delhi-bound flight said they were served food inside the aircraft before taking off as they had been sitting for a long time.<\/p>\n
The “fairly large” object was seen flying for over an hour, a senior officer in the airport told NDTV, requesting anonymity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n