Minor fire near airport runway

A minor fire broke out at the grassy area near a runway at the airport here, triggered by crackers used to scare away birds, airport officials said.
Officials said crackers are routinely used ahead of the arrival and departure of flights to scare away birds which fly near the runway.
This method was used just prior to the landing of a private jet from Coimbatore. The dry grass near near Bay 20 close to the runway near the domestic airport caught fire and spread rapidly, fanned by winds, they said.
The jet was halted on the runway for a few minutes due to the incident. Three fire tenders were pressed into service and doused the flames after which the flight was towed to the parking area, they said.

Senior airport officials are investigating the incident, they said.