One of the main wheels on the left side of a Nepali aircraft came off and the plane was made to land safely at Kathmandu, Tribhuvan International Airport Civil Aviation Authority said Friday.

The aircraft of the Yeti Airlines Pvt. Ltd. which took off from Kathmandu for western city Pokhara at 12:20 a.m. local time (0635 GMT)on Thursday with 21 passengers and three crew members aboard returned to Kathmandu as one of the main wheels on the left side of the aircraft came off, the authority said in a statement.

The mishap took place in course of the 4th flight of the aircraft. It had already done two mountain flights and one flight to Pokhara before.

Prior to making the aircraft land, it was made to fly low over the tower to determine which of the wheels of the aircraft had dropped. The aircraft was made to land only after determining which of its wheels had come off.

The Civil Aviation Authority Office immediately initiated an inquiry in connection with the incident and in course of the investigation, issued directives not to keep the technicians related to the flight in the duty roster.

No person was injured in the incident, the statement added.

The rear wheel of an aircraft is called the main wheel. The aircraft has altogether four main wheels, two on the right side and two on the left.

Source: Xinhua