An aircraft operated by Air India Express faced a technical issue after landing at Phuket International Airport on Wednesday, leading to a temporary suspension of flight operations at the airport. The airline said that its Hyderabad–Phuket flight experienced a problem with the aircraft’s nose wheel after landing in Thailand.

The flight, IX 938, had taken off from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and was headed to Phuket. In a statement, Air India Express confirmed that the aircraft encountered an issue with the nose wheel upon arrival at Phuket Airport on March 11.

The nose wheel is a key part of an aircraft’s landing gear system and helps the plane move and steer while on the ground. “We confirm that our Hyderabad-Phuket flight on 11 March experienced an issue with the nose wheel at Phuket Airport,” the airline stated.

“The crew followed all standard protocols, and guests were deplaned. We thank our guests, the Phuket airport authorities, and all stakeholders for their cooperation,” an Air India Express spokesperson noted.

According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the flight departed from Hyderabad at 6:42 a.m., slightly later than its scheduled departure time of 6:20 a.m. The aircraft landed safely at Phuket International Airport at 11:40 a.m. local time.

Reports said flight operations at the airport were temporarily suspended after the incident because the aircraft remained stuck on the runway.

Authorities halted other flights as a precaution until the situation could be handled.

The airline said that the crew followed all standard safety procedures and all passengers were safely deplaned after the aircraft came to a halt.

The number of passengers on board the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was not immediately known.

Meanwhile, in December last year, the airline said that an Air India Express flight operating between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam was cancelled after the pilot detected a technical issue before departure.