Over the weekend, a United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 suffered a bird strike not long after departure from San Francisco.
It is clear to note that this is not an issue related to the ongoing events going on at Boeing currently.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
UA1003 – San Francisco-Denver…
United Airlines flight UA1003 is a routine scheduled flight between San Francisco and Denver.
The affected aircraft involved in the bird strike was N37535.
As per data from Planespotters.net, N37535 is a 1.7 year old Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft that was delivered to the airline in August 2022.
Of the 737 MAX 9 variant, UA has 79 of them in the fleet, of which all but one are in active service.
Furthermore, average fleet age for the variant at the airline currently sits at 2.6 years.
United Airlines flight UA1003 departed San Francisco at 0532 local time last Saturday.
The climb out towards Denver began not long after that.
As per reporting from The Aviation Herald, the climb was stopped at 5,000 feet amid a bird strike.
From there, a swift return was made back to SFO, where the aircraft landed safely without incident.
The FAA said the following on the incident, detailing the damage made to the United 737 MAX 9:
“AIRCRAFT STRUCK A BIRD ON DEPARTURE DAMAGING PILOT SIDE WINDOW, SAN FRANCISCO, CA.”
Quick Fix Made: Aircraft Already Back in Service…
Data from RadarBox highlights that the United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 didn’t remain grounded for long.
The next day, the same aircraft performed the same rotation to Denver from San Francisco.
That flight landed without any additional incidents.
United Airlines has been in the news the last few weeks due to a spate of incidents that have taken place.
Once again, it is key to note that the bird strike doesn’t have anything to do with that specific event at the airline.
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