An American Airlines Boeing 787-9 has sustained serious damage after one of its engines ingested a loose cargo container in Chicago on 17 October 2024.
The ground incident occurred at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), and involved an American Airlines Boeing 787-9 arriving from London Heathrow (LHR).
American AA47 Chicago Ground Incident
American flight AA47 had landed at Chicago and was taxiing to the terminal when the ground event took place. Early reports suggest that a cargo container, possibly a standard Unit Load Device (ULD), had become detached from a service vehicle due to ground wash from another aircraft.
The cargo container was subsequently ingested by the right-hand engine of the taxiing American Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Photographs of the incident have surfaced on social media, via an X account Windy City Wheelman. The images show metallic debris from what appears to be a Unit Load Device. The ingestion resulted in significant damage to the aircraft engine.
FAA and Airline Statements
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a brief confirmation of the incident.
“The crew of American Airlines Flight 47 reported an engine issue while taxiing to the gate at Chicago O’Hare International Airport around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, October 17. The passengers deplaned normally. The Boeing 787-9 was traveling from Heathrow Airport in London.”
An American Airlines confirming statement followed.
“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.”
No injuries were sustained as a result of the event, and airport operations at Chicago O’Hare were not impacted.
Aircraft Details
The aircraft conducting the AA47 service from London Heathrow was a Boeing 787-9, registered N834AA. This is a 6.7 year old widebody aircraft belonging to the carrier American Airlines. It has been in operational service with the airline since its delivery in February 2018.
The incident will now be the subject of an FAA investigation.
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