Yesterday, an incident involving American Airlines Flight flight 47 from London Heathrow to Chicago, occurred on Taxiway Bravo after arrival at approximately 3 p.m. As the Boeing 787-9 was taxiing to its gate, it ingested a cargo container into its right (#2) engine, causing severe damage to the engine. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries.
At approx. 3 this afternoon, @AmericanAir Flight 47 was on Taxiway Bravo, heading to its gate at T5 when it ingested a cargo container into its #2 (right) engine destroying the can and severely damaging the aircraft. There are no reported injuries #ChicagoScanner #avgeek #AA47 pic.twitter.com/bMahnpu7S8
— Windy City Wheelman (@WindyCityDriver) October 17, 2024
Close-up of the damage to the #2 engine. A passenger on the aircraft says that the crew informed them that someone drove between two planes taxiing and the jetblast of the first aircraft blew the containers towards #AAL47 and one was ingested. pic.twitter.com/zW5bpLM4lE
— Windy City Wheelman (@WindyCityDriver) October 17, 2024
Hopefully we get CCTV footage soon – I checked the SnapMap and didn't see anything. This just popped up on TikTok, but it's the aftermath. pic.twitter.com/oLTEZeDFba
— Windy City Wheelman (@WindyCityDriver) October 18, 2024
According to reports from various sources, it appears that the container was an AKE ULD (Unit Load Device), a standard container used to transport luggage or cargo.
Some suggest that a ground vehicle drove between the two aircraft, and the jet blast displaced the container, which was subsequently sucked into AA47’s engine, and aviation watchdog JonNYC passes along that the blast may have come from nearby Air France flight 136, which was also taxiing at the time.
They add:
“Fairly sure. Someone drove between AA47 LHR-ORD (787-9, N834AA) and AF136 CDG-ORD and the luggage can got sucked into the engine”— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) October 18, 2024
While the cause remains unconfirmed, it seems that the container may have been empty, which is fortunate given the circumstances. This incident caused modest disruptions. Emergency personnel were called to the scene, and the aircraft was towed to the gate, and all passengers and crew safely deplaned at Terminal 5.
According to an American Airlines spokesperson,
After safely landing at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), American Airlines flight 47, with service from London-Heathrow (LHR), reported damage to its engine while taxiing to the gate at ORD. The aircraft has been taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team. Safety is our top priority, and we thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding
Both the FAA and the Chicago Department of Aviation are investigating the incident.
not sure how many spare engines AA has for their 787s but that one is going to need to be rebuilt.
Not sure what the status of AA’s 787 deliveries for this year but UA’s investor guidance shows that they are going to receive just 3 787s this year, way down from what they originally expected.
UA also says its fleet will increase by just 41 aircraft – way down from over 140 aircraft that were supposed to be received in 2024. They retired just 10 A319/320 aircraft earlier in the year but has no plans to retire any aircraft in the 4th quarter.
Boeing’s inability to deliver airplanes -even the 787 which is not affected by the strike – is having real consequences for airlines.
AA doesn’t need to lose an airplane due to ground damage any more than any airline but esp. when they can’t get new aircraft delivered.