A Thailand-bound Air India Express aircraft encountered a nose-wheel problem after hard landing at Phuket International Airport on Wednesday. The video of the incident has since surfaced on social media, prompting a confirmation by the airline.

As per real-time air traffic tracker FlightRadar24, the Boeing 737-Max8 aircraft operating flight IX 938 departed Hyderabad, India, at 6:42 am, a bit later that its scheduled 6:20 am departure. Thereafter, it landed the Phuket airport at 11:40 am local time.

Video of Air India Express flight hard-landing in Phuket

A video circulating online showed the flight landing on runway and leaving behind a trail of dust . Other pictures of the aircraft showed the damaged it had incurred after landing on the only runway at Phuket Airport, which has since been closed temporarily, according to The Nation Thailand. A nose wheel is a crucial component of an aircraft’s landing gear system.

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Air India confirms Phuket airport incident

As quoted by PTI, Air India’s budget airline said, “We confirm that our Hyderabad-Phuket flight on March 11 experienced an issue with the nose wheel at Phuket Airport.” The airline further stated that all standard protocols were followed to facilitate a smooth deplaning of passengers. No injuries were reported. There were 131 passengers on the plane, along with seven crew members and two infants.

The Thai outlet reported that it was initially estimated that the hold up would take around six hours. Consequently, other flights scheduled to land at the airport were required to hold in nearby airspace. Others were diverted to alternate airports.

Another image shared online by the news outlet Thai PBS showed the plane’s tyre having been shredded after the hard landing.

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