Mangaluru airport runway lights off due to power cut; flight diverted

Indigo flight 6E5188 from Mumbai to Mangaluru, which was diverted due to a lack of lights on the runway at Mangaluru, landed at Kannur Airport in Kerala on Sunday night. The technical problems were rectified and flight traffic resumed later.

Mangaluru (Southern Karnataka) : Due to the absence of illumination on the runway of the Mangaluru International Airport, a flight, which was supposed to land here, was diverted to Kerala and the problem has now been rectified. There was a power cut at the airport that led to the lights turning off on the runway.

As a result of the hitch, Indigo flight 6E5188 from Mumbai to Mangaluru was diverted and it landed at Kannur Airport in Kerala on ATC (air traffic control) instructions. Also, landing and take-off at Mangaluru Airport were suspended until the technical problem was rectified. It is learned that within a short time, the technical problems were rectified and traffic was allowed to resume.

Therefore, the landing of several flights from Chennai and Bangalore was delayed. Air India IX 789, which was supposed to go to Bahrain, was also delayed. Currently, the airport runway is back to normal. A team of engineers fixed the runway lighting and the flight operations started again. The airport runway was closed for about two hours - between 7.30 and 9.30 on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, a man from Kasaragod was arrested at Mangaluru International Airport for trying to smuggle diamond crystals to Dubai. A person travelling inside a Bajpe international flight was caught on suspicion by CISF security personnel during a check. During the inspection, diamond crystals hidden in the packet of the person's underwear were found.

In this case, 306.21-carat diamond crystals hidden in 13 small packets inside two packets were found. The total value of these is estimated at 1.69 crore rupees. He was immediately taken into custody by the CISF officials and handed over to the customs officials. Now the police have produced the accused in the court and judicial custody has been ordered.