On May 24, 2024, Thai AirAsia X flight 613 from Osaka Kansai to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi returned to Kansai Airport twice after take-off due to landing gear issues. No injuries were reported among the 35 passengers and crew members onboard.
The aircraft, an Airbus A330-300 registered HS-XTI took off from Kansai Airport’s runway 24L at 10:05AM. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism, the aircraft indicated a problem with landing gear retraction around 10:10AM. With that, the aircraft remained in the airspace around Kansai Airport, flew over runway 24R for visual inspection of the landing gear around 12:15PM, and landed safely on the same runway at 12:51PM.
After undergoing inspection, the aircraft took off again at 4:55PM, this time from runway 06R. Experiencing the same issue, the aircraft turned back and landed at Kansai Airport at 7:07PM. The second time, it landed on runway 06L. It did not overfly the runway before landing. According to The Sankei Shimbun, the crew was unable to retract the landing gear.
Rather than flying back to Bangkok, the aircraft involved in the incident was ferried to Guangzhou for maintenance on May 26, 2024. The ferry flight, XJ9611, took off from Kansai Airport at 8:44PM and landed in China at 12:45AM the next day.
