American Airlines 737 Hit By Gunfire In Colombia—Bullet Holes Found After Overnight Stop In Medellín, Investigation Launched

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.