A Boeing 737-800, registered 9A-LAB and operated by Croatia’s ACMI specialist ETF Airways, sustained serious damage during a hailstorm in the Argentinian city of Cordoba on January 1. The severity of the impact has left the aircraft grounded ever since. The province of Cordoba experienced extreme weather conditions on New Year’s Day, with winds reaching up to seventy kilometres per hour, heavy rainfall and intense hail. The storm resulted in one fatality and caused widespread damage to vehicles and infrastructure, including disruptions to the electricity supply. Maintenance teams have since been working to restore the aircraft to service; however, the damage sustained has been extensive, significantly complicating efforts to return it to an airworthy condition.
ETF Airways has wet-leased its entire fleet of three Boeing 737-800 aircraft to low cost carrier Flybondi since December. All three jets are based in Cordoba, central Argentina, under an agreement that runs until the end of the southern hemisphere’s summer season in late March. ETF Airways has also recruited Spanish-speaking pilots to operate from the region. The absence of one aircraft since January 1, following the hailstorm damage, has created notable operational challenges for Flybondi, leading to a series of flight cancellations and delays across its network.
ETF Airways has previously faced misfortune with the aircraft in question. In 2021, the aircraft experienced a wildlife strike while landing at Bremen airport on a flight from Pristina. During the landing roll, a wild rabbit on or near the runway was sucked into one of the aircraft’s engines. The aircraft’s left engine suffered enough damage from the rabbit ingestion that it was considered unsafe to fly. That forced ETF Airways to replace the engine and ground the aircraft for about twelve days while repairs and leasing replacement aircraft were arranged. ETF Airways estimated the total cost of the incident, including engine replacement, repairs and leasing other planes to cover its schedule, at around one million euros. The airline’s CEO publicly accused Bremen Airport of negligence, saying wildlife was able to access the airfield because of holes in the perimeter fencing. ETF Airways announced intentions to seek compensation from the airport authority.
They really don't have luck with this plane
ReplyDeleteWow unlucky
ReplyDeleteApparently the damage is so extensive the plane might not fly again.
ReplyDeleteI hope they have good insurance
DeleteDoes the plane inshurance cover in situations like this?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is considered dqamage from a natural disaster.
DeleteBut what does insurance cover? Does it cover the cost of hiring capacity to replace this plane? Does it cover the costs of rebooking people, putting them in hotels for overnight cancellations? What about crew who are not flying but should be, and who are losing hours?
DeleteInsurance does not cover operational costs, and even repair expenses may be heavily reduced due to deductions.
Delete@11:23 nope, it only covers costs directly relates to the plane most of the time, so the cost of repairing the hailstorm damage
DeleteEven that can be reduced depending on the circumstances and insurance agreement
Really bug bad luck for ETF.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they're properly insured, but the time that the claim is settled might create huge financial impact on a small company like ETF.
Wishing them the best.
This aircraft really seems to have bad luck. First the rabbit in Bremen, now severe hail damage in Argentina. Hopefully it will return to service soon but the costs must be substantial once again.
ReplyDeleteOperating three aircraft and losing one for over a month is a major blow, especially for an ACMI carrier
ReplyDeleteThis is really sad and unfortunate. Really bad luck to be going through this yet again.
DeleteHail damage can be extremely serious, especially to the radome and control surfaces. If the structure was affected, repairs could take much longer than expected.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThis happened in flight or on the ground?
DeleteOn the ground
DeleteI wonder how much of this will be covered by insurance and how much falls on the operator. Also, is there any protection for Flybondi in the wet-lease agreement in cases like this?
ReplyDeletethis aircraft has had quite a history :D
ReplyDeletewith ETF
DeleteIf repairs stretch beyond March it could cause serious issues.
ReplyDeletecould it have been repositioned or better protected during the storm?
ReplyDeleteWe need more details because this could be interesting. I wonder if ETF could claim that the pilot was negligent? But then again it's an ETF pilot, not a Fly bondi pilot.
DeleteBut why would it be the pilot's fault? Plane was parked at designated stand.
DeleteOpps, I didn't know this. Maybe the airport then?
DeleteYou left out atmosphere and god now, from possible causes. Hail happen. They did damage before on aircraft, this though is somewhat extreme, and it might end up with scrapping of the aircraft. Insurance will cover it, eventually.
DeleteSurprising this does not happen more often with planes
ReplyDeleteHow old is the plane?
ReplyDelete25yrs
DeleteWTF! Wishing them luck. The aircraft is 25 years old, so the damage may well be beyond economical repair. Hopefully they can reach a fair agreement with AerCap.
ReplyDelete+1
DeletePlane does not look good on that video
ReplyDeleteThe fact that it has not flown in a month and that there is no indication that it my fly again proves it.
DeleteThis is going to be a very costly South America adventure.
ReplyDeletehail damage could run into several million if structural components need replacement
DeleteInsurance will likely cover most of the structural damage, but business interruption costs for both ETF and Flybondi could be significant.
ReplyDeleteEven if insurance covers the cost, the company has to stay liquid first. All expenses still need to be paid.
DeleteDoes anyone have any more details? Is there now a surplus of crew? What are the pilots doing? Are the flights being cancelled or is another operator jumping in to cover the capacity?
Flights are being cancelled. Flybondi has had a lot of operational issues and cancellations in January. In addition to ETF, two wet leased AlbaStar planes are also out of service. It's a complete mess.
DeleteWhy are the 2 AlbaStar 737s out of service? Also because of hail damage or unrelated to it?
DeleteProbably discussion between the insurers and the leasing company.
ReplyDeleteIf the airplane structural damages are beyond economical repairs the useful components like avionics and engines will be taken on the spot and the fuselage maybe given to the local fire brigade or cut.
For ETF, they probably will have more expenses and troubles than anything else.
This really sucks for the bunny
ReplyDeleteOn the fuselage of this plane underneath the window of the cockpit they have put a little silhouette of a rabbit lol.
DeleteAmazing
DeleteTerrible
ReplyDelete