One of Asia’s busiest airports has been forced to shut its sole runway after a dramatic emergency landing left an Air India Express aircraft with significant damage to its nose and front landing gear.
Phuket International Airport, which handles more than 17 million passengers a year, was brought to a standstill in the early hours of Wednesday (March 11) following the incident involving a flight arriving from Hyderabad.
Flight IX938, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, touched down at 04:24 UTC before coming to rest on the tarmac with its front landing gear collapsed, according to images posted on social media and reported by The Mirror.
“The crew followed all standard protocols, and guests were deplaned,” A spokesperson for Air India Express confirmed. The number of passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft is not immediately known but the narrow-body, twin-engine jet typically seats about 180 passengers.
Airport authorities have warned that the runway is likely to remain shut for some time while the aircraft is removed and safety inspections are carried out.
Flight-tracking service FlightRadar24 confirmed the closure, noting that photographs from the scene show the jet stranded on the runway with significant damage to its forward section. The disruption is expected to affect both domestic and international services at one of Thailand’s busiest tourist airports.
“The only runway at Phuket Airport is closed after a landing incident involving Air India Express flight #IX938 (Boeing 737 MAX 8 with registration VT-BWQ). The aircraft landed at 04:24 UTC and pictures in social media show the aircraft on the runway with it’s front landing gear damaged.”
A nose wheel is an important component of an aircraft’s landing gear system. Like most aircraft, the Boeing 737 has two nose wheels and two sets of two wheels for the main landing gear.
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