Indian tourists traveling from Hyderabad narrowly avoided a potential disaster on March 11.
An Air India Express flight made a hard landing on the runway at Phuket Airport, severely damaging the Boeing 737 MAX 8’s nose landing gear.
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A passenger told the Associated Press that the aircraft bounced several times on the tarmac before coming to a complete stop on the runway. According to the passenger, several people were “lifting off their seats before falling back down.”
A hard landing by an Air India Express flight at Phuket International Airport on March 11 resulted in significant damage to the aircraft and temporary disruption to airport operations. The incident, involving flight IX938 from Hyderabad, underscores the potential for operational challenges even on established routes.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 experienced a forceful impact during landing, causing the nose wheel to break off, according to reports. A passenger described a jarring experience, stating that the plane “bounced several times on the tarmac before coming to a complete stop on the runway,” and that several passengers were briefly lifted from their seats.
Following the incident, authorities temporarily suspended flight movements as the aircraft remained on the runway. Air India Express confirmed the issue with the nose wheel at Phuket Airport. The airline stated that all passengers were safely deplaned and taken to the terminal building, with no injuries reported.
Phuket International Airport was temporarily closed, impacting both arriving and departing flights. The disruption highlights the vulnerability of airports with limited runway capacity to incidents involving disabled aircraft. According to flight-tracking platform Flightradar24, the flight departed Hyderabad at 6:42 am, slightly later than its scheduled 6:20 am departure, and landed at Phuket International Airport at 11:40 am local time.
The airline has since reinstalled the nose wheels, allowing normal airport operations to resume. The incident is currently under investigation to determine the precise cause of the hard landing and the extent of the damage to the aircraft.
