Aeromexico Boeing 737-800 suffers bird strike on takeoff from Guadalajara

Aeromexico

IATA/ICAO code

AM/AMX

Airline type

Full-service carrier

Hub(s)

Mexico City International Airport

Year of foundation

1934 year

Alliance

SkyTeam

Group of airlines

Grupo Aeromexico

General director

Andres Conesa Labastida

Country

Mexico

Earlier this week, Mr Aeromexico Boeing 737-800registration N957AM departing Guadalajara International Airport (GDL) was affected the sound of birds. this the incident forced the plane to return to the airport and it has been grounded since that day.

What happened?

This Aeromexico aircraft was scheduled to operate flight AM652 between Guadalajara and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).

The aircraft took off from Runway 28 on 28 June and shortly thereafter struck a bird in engine 2 (CFM56) and began climbing repeatedly.

The crew aborted the climb at about 10,000 feet, shut down the engine and returned to Guadalajara. They landed safely on runway 29 about 20 minutes after takeoff.

According to FlightRadar24.com, the plane has been grounded following the incident, although commercial services are scheduled to resume on July 3. It is expected to operate four flights that day: AM622 and AM623 between Guadalajara and San Francisco, and AM1788 and AM789 between Guadalajara and Sacramento.

The incident was captured on social media by Hugo Wren, a passenger on flight AM652. You can watch the video here.

In the video he says: “I was just trying to record our departure when I started seeing fire (from the engine) and suddenly the plane started making strange noises and shaking violently. The good thing is that we were able to get back to the airport immediately.”

Airplane

The aircraft involved in this incident is a Boeing 737-800, registration N957AM, manufactured in 2015. It was first ordered by SMBC Aviation Capital and delivered on 30 April 2015.

It can carry 160 passengers, including 126 economy class seats, 18 economy plus seats and 16 business class seats. Throughout its history, it was operated only by Aeromexico. He has accumulated more than 26,000 flight hours and almost 10,000 flight cycles.

By the end of the first quarter, the fleet of the Mexican airline consisted of 134 aircraft. Aeromexico operates 18 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, one Boeing 737-700 (this model is close to leaving the company entirely after nearly 20 years; the first Aeromexico 737-700s arrived in 2003), 36 Boeing 737-800s, 27 Boeing MAX 8, ten MAX 9 and 42 Embraer E190.

The latest on Aeromexico

On June 30, Aeromexico confirmed that it will take full control of the Club Premier loyalty program (PLM). This was one of the key objectives of the airline’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan.

Upon completion of the agreement, PLM will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Aeromexico (as it has been in the past). Moreover, Mexico’s antitrust body “COFECE” has already approved the PLM deal, which is expected to close around July 18.

A day earlier, Aeromexico reported that after the general meeting of shareholders, it was agreed to cancel the register of shares representing its share capital on the Mexican Stock Exchange. Therefore, the airline will seek to launch and implement the tender offer.

By May 2022, Aeromexico carried 7.7 million passengers, up 35.4% from 2021, but still below pre-pandemic traffic levels, although close to full recovery.

What do you think about this case? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Aviation Bulletin and h-aviation.