KATHMANDU, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- A tire of Airbus operated by Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) was damaged on Tuesday while it was leaving the runaway after landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, Nepalese authorities said.
However, the passengers were safe despite the incident, they said.
The plane RA206 9N-AKX, which departed from New Delhi, India, was carrying 149 passengers including Nepali Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and an infant.
The plane had landed at TIA around noon local time.
Prem Nath Thakur, spokesperson at TIA told Xinhua that a tire on the left side of the plane was damaged while it was leaving the runaway towards the taxi way at the only international airport of Nepal.
"As 25 percent of the only runway at the airport was covered by the plane, domestic and international flights were affected for more than an hour," said Thakur.
After the incident, the passengers were urgently taken to the terminal building.
According to TIA authority, a technical team of NAC checked the plane, changed its damaged tire and brought the plane to the hanger, paving the way for other flights to operate.
"Flight take-off and landing resumed from 1:48 p.m. (local time)," said Thakur.
It is the second time in two days that the NAC's plane suffered such incident.
Ram Hari Sharma, spokesperson of NAC, told Xinhua that another airbus of NAC also suffered puncture in its tire in New Delhi two days ago.
"We will conduct probe on the incident and take necessary steps to avoid such incidents in the future," said Sharma.
