Summary
- A bird strike damaged an American Airlines Boeing 737-800’s nose gear during a nighttime landing.
- The aircraft was towed off the runway due to leaked fluids.
- Costly repairs were avoided as the damage was not severe, but it still led to significant delay.
A Boeing 737-800 operated by American Airlines was towed to its gate on Thursday after suffering from a bird strike during approach at Minneapolis St. Paul/International Airport (MSP). While most bird impacts with commercial aircraft involve the engines during the day, this particular incident was different, as it resulted in damage to the plane’s nose gear and occurred in the overnight hours.
After the aircraft was towed off, airport officials closed the runway due to leaked fluids from the jet. American was able to repair the aircraft relatively quickly, but it spared a potentially costly repair if the damage proved to be worse.
Flight details
According to The Aviation Herald, the plane, registered as N880NN, was operating as AA458. It departed from American’s hub at Miami International Airport (MIA) on Wednesday at 21:33 EDT, about a half hour past its scheduled pushback time, according to data from FlightAware. The aircraft taxied over to Runway 8R, where it became airborne about 40 minutes later at 22:12. It followed a standard eastbound takeoff path, turning north and then west as it climbed in altitude.
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The aircraft stayed on the ground at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for several hours after the incident.
From there on, N880NN reached an initial cruising altitude of 30,000 feet as it traveled over central Florida. A few minutes later, it climbed to 34,000 feet, which it maintained for the remainder of its cruise. About two hours and 35 minutes later, the aircraft was flying over western Wisconsin and had started its descent.
Photo: Andrii Vodolazhskyi | Shutterstock
Continuing northwest toward the twin cities, it reached an altitude of 10,000 feet about 20 minutes after initiating its descent. The plane passed MSP to the east to circle back and line up for its final approach. A bird came in contact with the aircraft during short final. However, the plane’s exact altitude when encountering the bird strike is unknown. It continued and landed safely on Runway 12L at 00:48 CDT, according to FlightAware.
How many night bird strikes occur?
Once the plane slowed, it became disabled on the runway as the crew reportedly no longer had any steering control from the nose wheel. It was towed to gate E14 and arrived at 02:39 – nearly two hours after it touched down. Officials discovered damage to the nose gear caused a leakage of fluids onto the runway. This led to a temporary runway closure as crews worked to clean off the fluids. It is unclear how long the runway was closed, but it is likely that very few aircraft movements were affected as it was in the middle of the night.
Here’s What Happens During A Bird Strike
When a collision occurs between an aircraft and an airborne creature.
Most bird strikes occur during the day. However, about a quarter happen at night, according to AOPA. Regardless, bird impacts can result in major damage to aircraft, depending on their size, and extensive damage typically means costly repairs. The US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that bird and other wildlife strikes to aircraft cause an estimated $900+ million to commercial and military aircraft annually.
Delay of over 30 hours
It appears that the nose gear damage was not significant, as N880NN remained on the ground for about a day. It returned to service on Friday as AA1870 to MIA, but was delayed from its original scheduled departure on Thursday. Because of this, two AA1870s operated on Friday. The first flight departed on time at 05:58, while N880NN departed in the afternoon at 15:26 – a delay of 33 hours and 26 minutes, according to FlightAware.
Photo: Greg K | Shutterstock
If the aircraft sustained more severe damage, it would have a lengthy repair time and expensive repair costs. According to Quora forum, 737NG landing gear overhauls are priced anywhere between $150,000 and $200,000, while the maintenance can take over 45 days.
