As noted by The Aviation Herald, an Airbus A320 was hit by a bullet while landing today, but it probably wasn’t intentional (which… is almost more concerning?).
Continue reading: Middle East Airlines A320 Hit By Bullet In Beirut
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
A stray bullet entering the aircraft from the roof! How's that even possible??
Ron, bullets go up and come down with remarkable velocity. My neighborhood in Florida is a nightmare 4th of July and New Years Eve from bullets falling back to earth.
The bullet was likely falling back to the ground. That's the problem with celebratory gunfire, it is shot up in the air, but the bullet has to come down eventually, and that poses a threat to anyone. I've had a bullet land right next to me from the sky in Pakistan while I was sitting in a chair in the lawn of a house. There was a wedding going on nearby. Had I been sitting 2 feet to the left, it would have hit me. Injuries are unfortunately very common in some countries from this.
This is an issue in many Middle Eastern and African countries where gunfire is often used for celebratory events. Any bullet that is shot up must eventually come down, and that poses a serious risk to everyone. It isn't uncommon to hear reports of people being seriously injured or killed from stray bullets. Having spent time in certain countries where this takes place, I would sometimes hear gunfire in the middle of the night. It would scare me at first because terrorism was a risk in these countries and I wouldn't know if there was an attack or celebration going on.
Will we ever get your MEA a330 business class review beyond the first impressions?
What else is new?
It happened at least to 2 Caravelles and 1 B707. This is why the whole MEA fleet at the time of the civil war was kept at Orly airport. I worked at Air Inter at the time and they were right under my office window,
Well, perhaps better than in 'Merica where guns seem to routinely go off in schools.
Shoot your gun in the air to celebrate, but at least load it with blanks. What kind of moron shoots bullets around to celebrate?
Obviously the solution is to arm the planes, otherwise it’s just bad guys that have guns
This is not limited to “ Middle Eastern and African countries”. Celebratory gunfire is quite common where hand guns and long guns are common. A search of the SafetyLit literature database returned more that 60 journal articles on the topic. (SafetyLit is a free service that is presented without advertising.) If the search also includes “stray bullets” even more articles are found.