A Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) jet came to a stop safely after losing one of its wheels while rolling on the runway upon landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Tuesday afternoon.

Captain Bijay Lama was at the controls of the Airbus 320. There were 150 passengers, including Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, on board flight RA206 from New Delhi.

Mahat was returning home after completing a two-day official visit to New Delhi to set the stage for the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, which is slated to begin on Thursday.

According to air traffic controllers, the tyre on the left inner wheel burst and the rim itself detached from the undercarriage near the end of the landing roll.

“Suddenly, the tire deflated and the subsequent rotation caused its detached wheel to fold itself along the runway. The wheel was rolling behind tail of the aircraft on the runway,” said the air traffic controllers. “The runway suffered minor damage.” 

Controllers suspect that the wheel detached from the aircraft on landing when the brakes were applied. “The aircraft was never in danger and it was under full control,” they said.

Nepal Airlines Spokesperson Ram Hari Sharma said that flights were halted briefly at TIA as mechanics fitted another wheel to the undercarriage so that the aircraft could be towed to the parking area.

The passengers disembarked on to the runway immediately after the Airbus came to  a stop. They were then taken to the airport terminal, he said.

Sharma said that they were forced to cancel a flight the aircraft was scheduled to make to Hong Kong on Tuesday.

“However, we have made flight and hotel arrangements for the passengers,” he said, adding that those willing to fly would be put on other airlines.

“The damaged wheel will be repaired by Wednesday.”

According to Indian media reports, another Nepal Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Sunday.

According to the reports, the runway was temporarily shut down after the emergency landing. The aircraft returned to the airport and landed around 8.30 pm due to a technical glitch.

The reports said that the plane burst one of its tyres after landing, forcing it to stop on the taxiway.

Following Tuesday’s incident, both the A320s of Nepal Airlines have been grounded.