Last weekend, a Flybondi flight from Ezeiza suffered a bird strike during it’s landing into El Calafate.
Information has been released pertinent to this incident, which we will get into in this article.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Flybondi Flight FO5550 – Ezeiza to El Calafate…
Flybondi flight FO5550, which suffered the bird strike, is a routine scheduled flight between Ezeiza and El Calafate.
Furthermore, the aircraft involved in the incident was LV-KEF.
As per data from Planespotters.net, LV-KEF is a 14.2 year old Boeing 737-800 that started out life with Garuda Indonesia in July 2010.
Also, it remained with the airline before being handed over to Pembroke in November 2021 and then Fortress Transportation in October 2022.
Flybondi took delivery of the aircraft back in January 2023, where it has been since.
Of the 737-800 variant, the Argentinian carrier has 15 of them in their fleet.
Moreover, within that 15, all but four are in active service, with an average overall fleet age of 16.1 years.
Flybondi flight FO5550, which suffered the bird strike, departed Ezeiza at 0509 local time on August 24 and tracked south to El Calafate.
As per The Aviation Herald, it is understood this incident occurred on landing, with the aircraft suffering a damaged radome as a result.
Following the strike, the aircraft landed safely without further incident at 0750 local time.
Aircraft Grounded For Four Days As A Result of the Bird Strike…
In a statement, Argentinian authorities said the following on Flybondi flight FO5550 Ezeiza-El Calafate, which suffered the bird strike:
“The JST is investigating the incident that occurred with the Boeing 737-8U3 aircraft, registration LV-KEF, at the Comandante Armando Tola International Airport, Santa Cruz, at approximately 10:50 UTC on 08/24/24.”
Furthermore, data from RadarBox highlights that LV-KEF was grounded for four days.
After the repairs were made, the aircraft was sent back to Ezeiza, and returned to commercial service on August 29.
As soon as we have more information regarding this incident, we will update you accordingly.
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