21 June,2015 06:45 AM IST | | Neha L M Tripathi
Technical snag at CSI Airport leads to delay in flights
As heavy rain lashed the city for the second consecutive day, the Juhu airport, which had to be closed down on Friday after the runway got submerged, could resume operations only in the second half of Saturday.
Mumbai rains: Juhu airport shut after runway gets submerged
After airport officials started the process of pumping the water out, the runway was partially salvaged. A senior officer said, "Helicopters were able to take off post 1 pm as the water drained from the runway. However no other private aircraftcould take off."
Another senior official added, "Only intersection till the end of runway was available as the water was cleared for helicopter operations. However, other areas remain submerged."
Captain Uday Gelli, president, Rotary Wing Society of India said, "Airport authorities in Juhu on Friday had only one pump working. But today they put five pumps in action and some of the water could be drained out. However the airport is still only 30 percent functional."
CSI airport
Meanwhile, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) subsidiary radar had developed technical glitches at around 5.30 pm due to which departures of flights were more delayed and arrivals too were minorly affected. An airport official however said, "The subsidiary radar of ATC had developed technical glitch but the issue was resolved by 7.20 pm.
The departures were held for sometime as the backup system took few minutes to operate. Flights for the city in other airports too were asked to hold for sometime in order to avoid any kind of congestion. "
