Croatia’s Split Saint Jerome Airport (SPU), known as Split Airport, resumed operations on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, after an Iberia Airbus A320’s nose landing gear was damaged. The incident left the aircraft immobile on the runway during landing, with all 172 passengers and six crew members, evacuated safely without injuries and a temporary halt to the airport’s flights until the plane was towed off.
The Iberia incident
The Airport serves Croatia’s second-largest city, Split, and has a single runway. The incident triggered a halt in the airport’s operations, including flight redirections to nearby airports such as Zagreb, Zadar and Dubrovnik, as well as a safety investigation by Croatia’s Air, Maritime and Railway Traffic Accidents Investigation Agency.
It occurred on the Iberia flight IB945 at 4:22 p.m. local time, which departed from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD). The Airbus A320 aircraft’s nose landing gear was found rotated at 90 degrees, and was towed off the runway with all debris cleared before operations resumed at 6:30 p.m..
Split Airport spokesperson Mate Melvan told Ex-Yu Aviation:
“All passengers disembarked safely and were taken to the passenger terminal to collect their baggage and continue their journeys. The runway was temporarily closed while the aircraft was being removed and the conditions necessary for the resumption of air traffic were being secured.”
Nose landing gear
An aircraft’s nose landing gear describes the front wheel assembly, which is used to manoeuvre, absorb impact and provide balance during takeoff and landing.
If it rotates 90 degrees off-centre, it is considered damaged and may be caused by a sharp turn or manoeuvre during taxiing of the aircraft.
A similar incident occurred on a Lufthansa Airbus A320 on July 25, 2024, when the aircraft’s nose landing tyre rotated 90 degrees during roll out at Munich Airport, causing the plane to rotate for 20 metres on the runway and halting operations for two hours.
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