Surat: Surat-Goa SpiceJet flight was forced into a go-around on Tuesday morning as its nose landing gear failed to deploy.The flight could land in its third attempt when the landing gear partially deployed.

“The Spicejet Flight was on final approach for landing at Goa International Airport when runway controller Ramesh Tigga, leading airman (air handler) noticed that the nose landing gear was not deployed. He alerted the ATC tower where duty air traffic controller Lt Cdr Harmeet Kaur informed the incoming aircraft to abort the landing and make a second attempt after a go-around. The flight landed safely at 0805 hrs under the assistance of emergency and safety services to recover the aircraft. The alert action of Naval Air Traffic and Safety Services prevented a major accident at Goa airfield,” said the Navy, which controls air traffic at the Goa International Airport.

The flight from Surat to Goa leaves at 6.15 am and has a scheduled arrival time of 7.35am. A Spicejet spokesperson said the landing was ‘normal and safe’. “During approach, when the landing gear was selected to down position, the amber light for the nose landing gear door remained on, indicating a malfunction. Hence, the pilot carried out a precautionary ‘go around’,” the airline said in a statement.

The pilot suspected that the nose landing gear was not fully down and locked. He informed ATC and requested for ‘visual check’ of his nose landing gear. He flew past the ATC for ‘visual check’.

“The ATC conveyed that the nose landing gear was not down. As per the Standard Operating Procedure, all emergency services were activated and the pilot executed a precautionary landing. On landing the nose gear was found to be down and locked. The landing was normal and safe,” the airline said.

The Goa Airport is a navy base that doubles up as a civilian airport with the Navy controlling air traffic while the Airports Authority of India controls the passenger terminal.

Spice Jet flight connecting Surat to Jaisalmer and Udaipur was cancelled following this incident.