The runway of the capital Imphal city airport was observed to be in the vicinity of an unidentified flying object on Sunday, November 19, putting the northeastern Indian state of Manipur on notice. After a member of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) saw the unidentifiable aerial vehicle at 2:00 pm (local time) on the afternoon, operations were suspended, leaving almost 500 passengers from three departing flights stranded.
The three flights—two Air India and one IndiGo flight—were instructed not to take off after air traffic control (ATC) and ground observers reportedly noticed the drones in the area. Two arriving flights were diverted at the same time.
“Three planes are delayed and two have been diverted due to the detection of an unidentified flying object within Imphal restricted airspace. Flight operations begin following approval from the appropriate authority, according to a statement released by Airport Director Chipemmi Keishing.
The three flights, which were originally planned to leave Imphal for Agartala, Guwahati, and Kolkata, have been canceled until six o’clock at night. While a flight from Guwahati to Imphal at 3.50 pm, which was also canceled, subsequently took off at 6.50 pm, another flight from Delhi to Imphal was rerouted to Kolkata.
An Air Traffic Control (ATC) official stated, “The UFO was visible with bare eyes moving westward of the airfield till 4 pm.”
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After three hours, the Indian Air Force (IAF), which had been given control of the airspace, approved its restoration for use by commercial aircraft. To learn more about the occurrence, the Indian Air Force and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation have jointly opened an investigation. The official stated that the development was communicated to the Indian Air Force Eastern Command located in Shillong.
In addition to sharing an international border with Myanmar to the east, Manipur shares borders with Nagaland, Mizoram, and Assam.
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