On December 31, 2020, Avianca’s flight AV29 was descending into Bogota’s International Airport when it hit a balloon full of New Year’s Eve streamers. The streamers and the balloon got tangled on the airplane, which was able to land safely.
It is safe to say that Avianca’s flight AV29 was extremely fortunate to be able to land in Bogota. The images showED the extent of the streamers entanglement across the wings, the wheels, and even the plane’s engines are mind-blowing.
While on the flight, the pilots didn’t call the incident an emergency. Despite that, once the aircraft landed, the airport authorities treated the situation as one. Firefighters arrived on runway 13L of the Colombian airport, and the Government has launched an investigation.
Due to the severity of the incident, Colombia’s civil authority issued a statement calling for people to stop firing pyrotechnic near airports. It wrote,
“Please contribute to the operational safety by avoiding firing pyrotechnic near an airport, because it can affect the air operations by reaching the engine or fuselage of any plane and create a fire.”
Avianca hasn’t issued a statement on the incident.
Avianca operated flight AV29 between Orlando and Bogota using an Airbus A319-115. The registration of the aircraft is N557AV.
It departed from Florida at 17:00, local time. According to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, AV29 was landing in Bogota at 20:15, local time. The aircraft, which was delivered to Avianca in 2012, was undamaged due to the incident. Onboard, everyone was also safe.
Source: simpleflying.com