CHENNAI: The Dubai flight departing from Chennai International airport was halted on the runway, due to technical issues, causing the main runway to be closed for an hour on Friday.Chennai to Dubai flight halts on runway, delays departure time; DGCA orders probe
The Emirates Airlines passenger flight from Dubai usually arrives at the Chennai International airport at 8:15 am and departs to Dubai again at 9:50 am.
On Friday morning, the flight with 240 passengers began its takeoff roll on the runway at scheduled time.
Typically, the flight moves northward on the runway towards Chennai, then turns south to take off into the air.
However, on this occasion, the plane stopped in the northern direction on the runway and did not continue south. It remained stationary in the same spot, and maintenance staff used a tow truck to bring it back to its departure point.
After fixing the wheels of the airplane, it departed to Dubai at 11:10 am, delaying one hour from the original time.
As a result, from 10:00 AM to 11:10 AM on Friday, operations on the primary runway at Chennai International Airport were temporarily suspended.
During this period, all services, including departures and arrivals, were redirected to the secondary runway.
Some passengers on the flight raised an complained to Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), noting the frequent delay at Chennai airport.
In light of this, DGCA has ordered a thorough investigation on the temporary closure of the main runway.
Following which, the officials of Chennai International Airport have begun to probe into the incident from today.