Bolivana Boeing 737 Lands So Hard That Wingtip Breaks Off

Bolivana Boeing 737 Lands So Hard That Wingtip Breaks Off

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Yikes — this will take more than some duct tape to fix (hopefully!)

Boliviana de Aviacion 737 has very hard landing in Sao Paulo

This incident involves a Boliviana de Aviacion Boeing 737-800 with the registration code CP-3151. On Thursday, May 4, 2023, the 21-year-old jet was operating flight OB736 from Santa Cruz, Bolivia (VVI), to Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU).

The 1,150-mile flight operated more or less as scheduled, and landed on runway 9R around 2hr20min after departure. However, this wasn’t your average landing. The landing was so hard that the left wingtip separated from the aircraft after it touched down, and several interior panels of the cabin fell off as well. Fortunately no injuries were reported.

In this era where everyone is a videographer, there’s footage of this incident from both inside and outside of the cabin.

As you’d expect, the return flight was canceled, and the plane has remained on the ground in Sao Paulo. I’m curious to see when this jet flies again.

For context, Boliviana de Aviacion is the national airline of Bolivia, and the carrier has been struggling financially for quite some time. The airline has a fleet of around 20 jets, including Boeing 737s and Boeing 767s. The company is also in the process of acquiring some former Virgin Australia A330s to update its long haul fleet, which should mark an exciting new chapter for the airline.

Was the landing really that rough?

The videos from both outside and inside of the jet make it pretty clear that the plane “floated” for an extended period of time while trying to land.

When you look at the exterior video of the landing, it doesn’t actually look so bad. It certainly doesn’t look like the type of landing that you’d expect to cause damage, to the point that a wingtip flies off the plane. Admittedly that may partly come down to the angle at which the video is taken, as a direct head-on video would have given a more accurate sense of how rough the landing was.

Even from inside the cabin, the landing doesn’t look like it’s that bad, until you realize that panels have fallen off.

To Boeing 737 pilots (or other airline pilots), does anyone have a clue of what exactly is going on here? Was this landing actually so rough that you’d expect the wingtip to break off in that way, or is this more likely a sign of some other pre-existing issue with the plane, or something?

I’ve certainly witnessed some landings that appeared to be much rougher than this, but didn’t cause any damage…

Bottom line

A Boliviana de Aviacion Boeing 737 had a rough landing in Sao Paulo yesterday, whereby a wingtip fell off, and several cabin panels opened up as well. To the untrained eyed, the landing didn’t actually look that bad (when you consider the extent of the damage), so I’m curious what exactly happened here.

What do you make of this Bolivana de Aviacion Boeing 737 landing?

Conversations (10)
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  1. Legend717 Guest

    Greetings from a former 737 mechanic!
    I don't think it was a hard landing. I think it was a main gear shimmy.
    The touchdown, as Lucky has observed, wasn't THAT firm, at all. But there's an immediate, severe vibration.
    That kind of vibration in a left-right, rapid motion could certainly snap off the winglet about halfway up. Which it did.
    And, it could also easily rattle the overhead panels loose (it's...

    Greetings from a former 737 mechanic!
    I don't think it was a hard landing. I think it was a main gear shimmy.
    The touchdown, as Lucky has observed, wasn't THAT firm, at all. But there's an immediate, severe vibration.
    That kind of vibration in a left-right, rapid motion could certainly snap off the winglet about halfway up. Which it did.
    And, it could also easily rattle the overhead panels loose (it's very uncommon for overhead panels to drop from a firm touchdown, as they're mounted in such a way to withstand that scenario). But side-to-side motion is exactly what will pop ceiling panels out, as it is indeed how we remove them for maintenance access.

    We see a lot of 737 classics with main gear shimmy damper failures in the high altitude (and thus high touchdown speeds) airports of South America (see avherald for details).
    Admittedly, this wasn't a classic but an NG, and I think Sao Paolo is basically at sea level... but the outcome seems very similar to those incidents.

    Happy flying!

    1. Eskimo Guest

      What about injuries to passengers on side-to-side motion?

    2. FlyerDon Guest

      So it was shaken, not stirred?

    3. Brian Guest

      Yes, looks like a typical crosswind landing (winglow), except the pilot didn’t take out the crab prior to touchdown, resulting in the immediate side loading on the aircraft as you pointed out.

    4. Eskimo Guest

      @Brian

      Quoting my prior post.

      "SBGR 041500Z 31004KT"

  2. Irish Air Guest

    Brianair
    Got something against Ryanair ? One of the best airline safety records on record. Flown them many times, NEVER had a landing like that. What's your problem ?

  3. Dc3r1830 Guest

    Might have been a violent shimmy from the main gear at touchdown. Landing didn’t look hard, but a rapid shimmy from the gear would cause some shaking that opens panels and transmits a vibration to the wing.

  4. Eskimo Guest

    SBGR 041500Z 31004KT

    Can't blame the weather.

  5. Brianair Guest

    I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often on Ryanair. Or maybe it's just not reported.

  6. betterbub Diamond

    I feel like if this landing was truly rough enough to break wingtips off we'd be hearing about spinal injuries from inside the cabin too? Nuts and bolts are expensive, surely you wouldn't need all of them

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Legend717 Guest

Greetings from a former 737 mechanic! I don't think it was a hard landing. I think it was a main gear shimmy. The touchdown, as Lucky has observed, wasn't THAT firm, at all. But there's an immediate, severe vibration. That kind of vibration in a left-right, rapid motion could certainly snap off the winglet about halfway up. Which it did. And, it could also easily rattle the overhead panels loose (it's very uncommon for overhead panels to drop from a firm touchdown, as they're mounted in such a way to withstand that scenario). But side-to-side motion is exactly what will pop ceiling panels out, as it is indeed how we remove them for maintenance access. We see a lot of 737 classics with main gear shimmy damper failures in the high altitude (and thus high touchdown speeds) airports of South America (see avherald for details). Admittedly, this wasn't a classic but an NG, and I think Sao Paolo is basically at sea level... but the outcome seems very similar to those incidents. Happy flying!

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Eskimo Guest

@Brian Quoting my prior post. "SBGR 041500Z 31004KT"

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Brian Guest

Yes, looks like a typical crosswind landing (winglow), except the pilot didn’t take out the crab prior to touchdown, resulting in the immediate side loading on the aircraft as you pointed out.

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