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A VivaAeroBus Airbus A320 (XA-VAZ, msn 2576) lost its nose gear while lining up for departure as flight VB4343, from Puerto Vallarta--Gustavo D. Ordaz Airport to Monterrey--General Mariano Escobedo International Airport, both in Mexico.
It was backtracking on runway 22 for departure (because the parallel taxiway A was partly closed) when during the 180 degree turn to line up for take-off (at 13:42 hours local time) the nose gear collapsed.
The aircraft was evacuated via slides and luckily none of the 127 persons onboard got injured. The slides on the back of the aircraft were not deployed, as the angle would have been too steep to glide from, with a good risk of (severe) injuries. The front ones were deployed, but as can be seen in the small picture below the wind took hold of it, lifting it in the air. The slide on the passenger entry door (left hand side) did not suffer from the wind and passengers and crew could use it. The overwing emergency exits were also used, allowing passengers to use those emergency slides to leave the Airbus.
MSN 2576 has been a real globetrotter since it was delivered in October 2005. It started in India (Kingfisher Airlines) and continued to the Philipines (Zest Airways and AirAsia Zest) before it ended up in Mexico. It was put in storage late August 2019, but has been flying again since sometime last year.
