An Air India plane carrying 111 people from Thiruvananthapuram to Male narrowly escaped an accident when one of its tyres burst on landing at the airport in the Maldivian capital.
GMR, which operates the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) here, said that flight AI263 sustained a tyre burst upon landing at 12:06 pm on Saturday.
The aircraft safely taxied to the apron without incident, GMR Media Relations Manager Sowmya Shenoy said.
This is an event that occurs from time to time for a variety of reasons, and the crew were adequately equipped and trained to deal with such incidents, she said.
Other than one burst tyre, there was no damage to the aircraft or the runway. The tyre was replaced and the flight departed, she said.
There were 99 passengers and three infants on board the aircraft, besides 9 crew members.
Currently, work is underway to refurbish the apron of the airport here to meet the international standards as its been outdated.