American Airlines 737 plane found with apparent bullet hole after flying from Miami to Colombia

An American Airlines plane was found with an apparent bullet hole while in Colombia on Monday, according to sources familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by News themezone.

The hole was located in the right wing of a 737 MAX 8 aircraft after it flew from Miami, Florida, to Medellin on Sunday afternoon as flight 923. After landing, the ground crew reported a puncture “extending to the right aileron,” according to documents reviewed by News themezone. It is unclear when or where the damage occurred.

Sources say the damage is consistent with an apparent gunshot wound. There is an entry point that left a small round hole on one side of the spoiler, as well as damage to the probable exit point on the other side. The apparent bullet hole was first reported by airline blogger JonNYC on X.

An airplane’s ailerons are important flight control surfaces located on the trailing edge of each wing. They generate the roll of the plane.

There were no injuries and the plane experienced no flight-related problems, according to American Airlines.

“After a routine inspection, our teams identified a puncture on the exterior of one of our aircraft in Medellín, Colombia,” American Airlines said in a statement to News themezone. “The aircraft was immediately removed from service for further inspection and repair. We will work closely with all relevant authorities to investigate this incident.”

Temporary repairs were made and the plane operated as scheduled to Miami on Monday morning, according to flight tracking data from Flightradar24. He then stayed in Florida for about 12 hours before flying to Dallas and has not flown since.

The Civil Aviation Authority, Colombia’s equivalent of the Federal Aviation Administration, told News themezone it had no information about the incident but was now investigating.

In 2024, Spirit, JetBlue and American had their planes shot at while taking off or landing in Port-au-Prince, Haitias gang violence increased in the capital city. The FAA temporarily halted air traffic to Toussaint Louverture International Airport and major airlines suspended service.