All the 117 passengers and crew members of the GoAir flight from Mumbai were safe, an airline spokesperson said.

More than half way into the flight, the pilots of the A-320 aircraft noticed the problem and informed the Air Traffic Control, airport sources said.

They apprehended that the aircraft’s nose-wheel was not functioning properly, which could have made the landing difficult.

The ATC immediately alerted the emergency control room, which swung into action declaring full emergency at the airport and deploying fire brigades, ambulances and other essential services.

The ATC also directed other planes coming into Delhi to land to hover over and make way for the GoAir aircraft.

However, the A-320 landed safely around 1700 hours despite the problem with its nose-wheel and undercarriage, they said.

In a statement, a GoAir spokesperson said the Mumbai-Delhi Flight 456 was being operated by a brand new A-320 which was “delivered in November 2007.” “The reasons for the technical problem will be investigated in cooperation with the agencies involved and the manufacturers,” the airline spokesperson said.

A spokesman for the aircraft manufacturer, Airbus Industrie, said they would fully cooperate with the probe to be initiated by the DGCA and other agencies.