Air India Express flight from Hyderabad suffers landing gear collapse at Phuket

An Air India Express flight from Hyderabad made a hard landing at Phuket International Airport, causing the nose landing gear to collapse. All 131 passengers and crew were evacuated safely while the runway remained closed for hours.

Hyderabad: An Air India Express airpolane bound for Phuket from Hydreabad, was involved in a landing incident at Phuket International Airport on Wednesday after a hard touchdown allegedly caused due to the collapse of its nose landing gear. All passengers and crew were evacuated safely and no injuries were reported. According to available information, the incident involved flight AXB938 operated by a Boeing 737-800 that had departed from Hyderabad.

Preliminary reports indicate that the aircraft made a hard landing around 12.08 pm local time while touching down at Phuket airport. The impact caused the nose landing gear to collapse, leaving the aircraft stranded on the runway.

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The flight was carrying 131 passengers, including two infants, along with seven crew members. Airport emergency teams responded immediately and passengers were evacuated following standard emergency procedures. Local authorities confirmed that everyone on board was safely shifted to the terminal without injuries.

Following the incident, authorities closed Phuket’s only operational runway for nearly six hours to remove the aircraft and assess possible damage to the runway surface. The shutdown disrupted flight operations at the busy international gateway, a major tourist hub in southern Thailand.

Reports indicated that more than 120 flights were affected by the temporary closure. Several incoming flights were diverted to nearby airports, including Krabi International Airport, while others were delayed until the runway was cleared and declared safe for operations.

In a statement later, Air India Express confirmed that all passengers and crew were safe and said it was extending full cooperation to aviation authorities investigating the incident. Engineers and airport ground staff worked to remove the aircraft and restore runway operations.

Thailand’s aviation authorities have launched an inquiry to determine the exact circumstances that led to the hard landing and the landing gear failure. Investigators will examine weather conditions, pilot handling during landing and the aircraft’s technical status as part of the probe.