Rains hit flights from Mumbai; main runway still shut

Heavy rains played havoc at the city's airport today, forcing suspension and diversion of many flights, even as the main runway remained out of bounds for the second day as the Turkish plane stuck in the mud could not be towed away due to inclement weather.

The main runway N8 is expected to be reopened for regular operations by 11pm instead of 5pm as stated earlier.

"The NTOAM (notice to air men) for the main runway closure has been extended to 11pm as the efforts towards towing away the Turkish plane continued to get disrupted due to incessant rains," the spokeswoman for Mumbai International Airport told PTI.

She also said heavy rains have brought down visibility below minimum on the secondary runway, forcing suspension of some flights and diversion of six flights during the day. This has also increased the average delay in arrivals and departures of upto 60 minutes.

"Continuous rains in the airport area has made the ground near the main runway slushy, preventing movement of equipment to tow away the stranded plane," she said.

An aircraft from Istanbul, with 104 passengers and crew onboard, had overshot the main rapid exit taxiway in the wee hours yesterday. The landing gear of the Airbus 340 got stuck in the mud near the main runway, disrupting flight operations.