An Air India Express aircraft suffered a dramatic landing gear failure after a hard touchdown at Phuket International Airport earlier today, forcing the aircraft to come to a halt on the runway and triggering disruption across the airport.
Flight IX938 from Hyderabad, operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8 (registered VT-BWQ), sustained severe damage to its nose landing gear during landing, with both nose wheels detaching from the aircraft. The jet remained disabled on the runway while all 140 passengers and crew evacuated safely without injury.
Unverified video footage circulating on social media appears to show the aircraft touching down firmly before bouncing and settling back onto the runway. Smoke can be seen coming from the nose landing gear area as the aircraft decelerates.
Further images taken on the runway show both nose wheels separated from the aircraft, leaving the nose gear strut in direct contact with the runway surface.
Phuket Airport runway closed after disabled aircraft
Phuket International Airport’s single runway 09/27 was closed following the incident, as the disabled aircraft remained on the runway.
A NOTAM suspended all runway operations until 14:00 UTC (21:00 local time) while airport authorities worked to clear the aircraft.
The closure caused significant disruption, forcing several inbound flights to divert to alternative airports. Aircraft operated by Emirates, AirAsia, Bangkok Airways, and Air Astana were among those affected.
In a statement, Air India Express confirmed that the flight crew followed all standard safety procedures and that passengers were safely deplaned after the aircraft came to a stop.
The airline added that replacement nose wheels had been fitted to the aircraft on March 8th, and that a full investigation into the incident will now take place.
Weather conditions at the time
Weather conditions at Phuket at the time of the landing appear to have been favourable.
A METAR issued 24 minutes before the incident reported visibility greater than 10 kilometres, light winds of 10 knots from the east, and no significant weather expected.
METAR: VTSP 110400Z 09010KT 030V110 9999 FEW020 31/23 Q1013 NOSIG
These conditions suggest that the weather was unlikely to have played a significant role in the event.
Investigation underway
The cause of the incident is not yet known.
Under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13, the country where the occurrence takes place is responsible for leading the investigation. Thailand’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee (AAIC) will therefore lead the inquiry.
Authorities will examine flight data, aircraft systems, and operational factors to determine what led to the nose landing gear failure.
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