American Airlines flight 923 arrived in Medellín, Colombia on Sunday evening, and spent the night there. Aviation watchdog JonNYC reports that bullet holes were found on the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in the morning, before the plane (registered N342SX) was scheduled to return to Miami. It operated as flight 924 to Miami on Monday, and then on Tuesday flew to Dallas – Fort Worth.
Wow. I'm told bullet holes were found on AA aircraft in Medellin, Colombia Monday morning. N342SX (AA924 Monday)
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) February 24, 2026
Sounds like maybe right aileron impacted
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) February 24, 2026
According to an American Airlines spokesperson,
Following a routine inspection, our teams identified a puncture to the exterior of one of our aircraft in Medellín, Colombia. The aircraft was immediately removed from service for further inspection and repair. We will work closely with all relevant authorities to investigate this incident.
American doesn’t deny a bullet. It’s understandable that they wouldn’t want to confirm it, or may not yet have confirmed that’s what caused the puncture that was found. An exterior puncture can be damage from belt loaders, tugs, or catering trucks. Nonetheless, the bullet scenario seems likely. And a single puncture alone isn’t a huge problem. It’s the risk of additional damage to the aircraft, like nonobvious structural issues or damage to hydraulic lines, electrical wirings, or sensors that could cause major problems.
JonNYC relaying “maybe right aileron impacted” would be a much bigger issue. Ailerons are on the trailing edge of a plane’s wings and control the aircraft’s banking. They move in opposite directions (one up, one down) to create differential lift.
And if that’s the general area where the bullet entered, I’d worry about penetration of the fuel tank. Although if it was limiited to the outboard trailing edge of the wing then there’s probably no fuel tank issue, but I assume this is something American would have verified.
I’d want to make certain I knew where the bullet came from, and in the meantime avoid leaving the aircraft overnight in Medellín at an exposed stand if possible, and increasing security around the perimeter during overnight parking, as well as doing additional preflight exterior inspections on planes that overnight there.
If AA has not confirmed it was even a bullet that did the damage, why use the headline “hit by gunfire? The damage was discovered at MDE (in sleepy Rio Negro, 40 minutes from the city of Medellín) but is it possible that the damage happened in Miami where it originated?
Are we even sure it was hit by a bullet in MDE. Couldn’t it have happened while in the US also. Many people with guns means there have to be at least a few shots that go astray
Yes. Let’s not smack talk Medellin, it is a wonderful city that is safe and welcoming.
I leave MDE for MIA and then home in California tomorrow morning on AA at 0700. Flown this route many times being married to a Colombian (for 35 years) long before desperate single gringos started partying in El Pablado mostly unsuccessfully trying to fall in love with the most beautiful women en el mundo! As for parking AA planes overnight at a MDE gate for the 0700 departure, there is almost no chance of intentional gunfire hitting an AA or any plane for that matter parked overnight at a gate. If a bullet indeed hit and penetrated the right aileron, then the trajectory could have been from below on final approach to the north of the single runway at MDE. While Rio Negro has become a small city, the area immediately to the north of the runway is entirely green space (BTW, the whole country is green from the air) with widely scattered casitas and a few really nice casas. Plenty of opportunity to kind of hide in that green space and fire a high powered rifle at the AA plane when below 1,000 feet on final. Perhaps a property owner heard gunfire at the precise time the AA plane was nearing touchdown on Sunday evening.