Bhubaneswar, Apr 18 (PTI) A flight carrying 178 passengers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's principal secretary PK Mishra, was diverted to Bhubaneswar airport on Friday after the aircraft was unable to land at Jharsuguda due to cracks on the runway, officials said.

Mishra, who was on the way to attend the convocation of IIM Sambalpur on Saturday, had boarded the Delhi-Jharsuguda flight and was scheduled to reach the western Odisha town around 3.20 PM, they said.

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"The flight could not make the landing at the Veer Surendra Sai Airport in Jharsuguda as the airport authorities had issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) for cracks on the runway," an official said.

NOTAM is a notice containing information concerning the establishment, condition or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard, and the timely knowledge of which is essential to personnel concerned with flight operations.

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VSS Airport Director Sandeep K Tiwari said, “It is normal during summer as the concrete slab of the runway develops cracks. It is a two-km-long runway, and the cracks were noticed half an hour before the scheduled landing of the Delhi flight. Therefore, we preferred to divert the flight to nearby Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.”

He also said that the same flight landed at the VSS airport with all the passengers, including Mishra, on board around 7.13 PM.

"The cracks were repaired and flight operations started as the airport authorities withdrew NOTAM," he said.

Odisha Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja and Transport Secretary Usha Padhee rushed to the Bhubaneswar airport when Mishra was waiting there.

Tiwari said there was also an alert from the weather department regarding the landing and take-off of flights from Jharguguda airport.

At least six flights used to land at Jharsuguda airport daily, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)