Air India Express plane experiences nose landing gear failure; passengers evacuated safely

NEW DELHI: An Air India Express flight carrying over 100 passengers from Hyderabad to Phuket narrowly escaped a disaster when the nose landing gear malfunctioned during landing at Phuket airport.

Thanks to the calm and composed actions of the pilot, a potential accident was avoided. Authorities at Phuket airport said the runway remained closed until 6 PM following the incident. The aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, had 133 passengers on board. All passengers were safely evacuated to the passenger waiting area after the nose landing gear collapsed and the plane skidded off the runway.

“On March 11, our Hyderabad-Phuket flight experienced a nose wheel issue while landing at Phuket airport. All staff followed protocols, and the passengers were safely evacuated. We thank our guests, airport authorities, and all partners for their cooperation,” An Air India spokesperson said.

Emergency response teams and airport authorities quickly rushed to the site and conducted the evacuation. The flight had departed from Hyderabad at 6:42 AM and the incident occurred during landing at 11:40 AM. Authorities confirmed that the landing gear failed at 11:55 AM, causing the aircraft to get stuck on the runway.