Pune, April 18 -- Flight operations at the Pune airport were suspended late Friday night following an incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft, believed to have crash-landed on the runway. The disruption began around 11:15 pm, with arrivals and departures halted for over 30 minutes, leading to multiple diversions and delays. Confirming the development, Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke said a technical issue-possibly involving a fighter jet-had led to the suspension. "Yes, there appears to be a technical problem, possibly linked to a fighter aircraft. Operations have been temporarily suspended and the runway has been closed since around 11:15 pm. At present, we cannot say when operations will resume," he said. In a statement on X, the IAF said: "Pune runway is temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an IAF aircraft. The crew are safe and there is no damage to civil property. Efforts are underway to operationalise the runway and resume normal operations at the earliest." Due to the closure, several inbound flights were diverted to nearby airports, including Mumbai, Surat and Goa's Mopa airport, while others were delayed or rerouted. Minister of state for civil aviation and Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol said in a post on X, "Runway operations at Pune airport are temporarily suspended due to an incident involving an IAF aircraft. Thankfully, the aircrew are safe and there has been no damage to civil property. Airlines have been informed, and it may take approximately five hours to restore normal runway operations." Aviation expert Dhairyashil Vandekar said the incident highlighted the limitations of Pune's single-runway, dual-use airport. "Flights already in the air have to hold or divert to nearby airports, increasing fuel burn and causing cascading delays across airline networks. On the ground, tightly planned aircraft rotations are disrupted, leading to delays, missed connections, uncertainty and overcrowding," he said....