Overview
- Flight IX938 from Hyderabad made a hard landing at Phuket around late morning on March 11, damaging the nose landing gear and detaching both nose wheels.
- All 133 passengers, two infants, and seven crew were safely deplaned with no reported injuries, according to the airline and officials.
- Phuket airport issued a NOTAM closing the runway from 12:08 pm to 6:00 pm local time, prompting delays and diversions until the aircraft was secured.
- The aircraft was identified as a Boeing 737 MAX 8, registration VT-BWQ, and replacement nose wheels were later installed, allowing normal operations to resume.
- Air India Express notified India’s DGCA, which began an investigation, and reports say the flight’s two pilots were de-rostered pending the probe.