An Air Force spokesperson said, “It was a regular exercise of the Air Force to check the reaction in case there is a fire. A situation was created at 7.15 pm on Tuesday.”
Airport director P S R K Sudhakar said, “The situation was normal throughout the exercise. There was no change in the schedule. A false message that had gone out had caused fear for some time.”
PMC fire chief Prashant Ranpise said, “The grass along the runway airport catches fire many times and sometimes they even set it on fire as part of a drill. If required they call us. On Tuesday, we were given a call but when we reached there, they told us that the fire was brought under control.”