A Buddha Air aircraft flying from Janakpur to Kathmandu on Thursday landed safely at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) despite missing one of its two front wheels, the state-run national news agency RSS reported.
According to RSS, TIA General Manager Jagannath Niraula confirmed the safe landing and stated that an investigation has been launched into the missing wheel. "Though it is not a major issue, we are looking into the matter," he said.
Buddha Air’s Information Officer Dipendra Karna told the news agnecy that the aircraft, with call sign 9N-ANH, was handed over to the technical team after the fault was detected.
This is not the first time that Buddha Air experienced technical problem.
An aircraft of Buddha Air with the call sign 9N AJS was diverted to Kathmandu and made a safe landing after detecting some technical problem during a mountain flight on October 17, 2024.
According to Buddha Air's Information Officer Karna, the flight was safely redirected back to TIA after reporting technical issues with the right engine.
On September 16 last year, Buddha Air experienced a technical issue with one of its airplanes, which was scheduled to fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur in Chitwan.
According to media reports, passengers were disembarked after the aircraft with call sign 9N AIT was stopped on the taxiway due to the problem.
On August 2, 2024 a Buddha Air flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara was forced to return to Kathmandu shortly after takeoff due to a technical problem.
According to the then TIA Spokesperson Subhash Jha, the issue was detected in the plane shortly after departure, prompting the aircraft to return and land safely in Kathmandu. The aircraft with call sign 9N AMD landed safely at 4:55 PM.
On March 18, 2023, A Buddha Air aircraft flying to Surkhet from TIA returned mid-flight after experiencing a technical problem. According to a representative of Buddha Air, the aircraft with registration number 9N AMD returned to TIA after the flight crew noticed a problem with the aircraft’s airspeed indicator.
On September 27, 2021, an ATR aircraft of Buddha Air carrying 73 people and four crew members from Kathmandu to Biratnagar had to burn the fuel in the sky for emergency landing back in Kathmandu after detecting a technical problem. The then general manager of TIA, Pratap Babu Tiwari, said that the plane returned back after the indicator of one of its landing gears did not illuminate while the crew was preparing to land the aircraft.
Although Buddha Air has a good record in aviation history with only one fatal accident till date, the most-trusted airline company is lately plagued by technical problems frequently.
