NEW DELHI: An Air India Express Boeing 737 MAX plane, carrying 138 people, lost both its front wheels after a suspected emergency landing at Phuket airport on Wednesday, leaving the plane stranded on the runway for hours and forcing a temporary halt to airport operations, officials familiar with the matter said.
VT-BWQ operated flight IX938 from Hyderabad to Phuket.
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A hard landing in flight is when an aircraft descends onto the runway at a higher than normal vertical speed.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the number of hours the plane remained stuck on the runway, as well as the period during which airport operations were halted. “The plane, which had a hard landing incident with a bounce on Runway 9 at Phuket Airport, was stuck on the runway while the two front wheels separated during landing,” an official said, adding that “none of the passengers or crew members on board were hurt.” The passengers were disembarked from the plane and taken to the airport building. Another official added that there were no casualties.
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“The front wheels have been installed on the aircraft involved in the incident at Phuket Airport, allowing normal airport operations to resume,” the airline said in a statement. He added: “We apologize for the incident, and it will be investigated according to established procedures.”
According to Flightradar24, a live flight tracking website, the plane took off at 6:42 a.m., about 30 minutes after its scheduled takeoff time, and landed in Phuket at 11:24 a.m., about 20 minutes before its expected departure time. The official added: “After the accident, the pilots were removed from the list pending investigation.”
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Earlier in the day, an airline spokesperson said the plane had a nose problem at Phuket Airport, the crew followed all standard protocols, and guests were safely off the plane.
