Summary
- A passenger captured the balloon passing by the aircraft during landing, highlighting the chance of reckless balloon releases.
- The GOL Boeing 737 MAX 8 landed on the airport without further incident.
- Nevertheless, this has been one other balloon-related incident within the country in 2023, highlighting a potentially growing safety risk.
A balloon was caught on camera near a Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (marketed as GOL) Boeing 737 MAX 8 that was on approach at Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport (GIG), marking one other incident when an aircraft was near striking or potentially ingesting a foreign object into its engines within the country.
On approach to Rio de Janeiro
The event happened when the GOL Boeing 737 MAX 8, registered as PS-GPL, was operating flight G3 1837 between Porto Alegre Salgado Filho International Airport (POA) and GIG on December 17, 2023. One passenger, who was filming the approach outside of their window, caught the balloon passing by the aircraft because it was turning to land on the airport. In line with Flightradar24 data, flight G3 1837 departed POA at 7:24 and arrived at GIG at 8:54. Moreover, the flight tracking service’s logs showed that the 737 MAX began turning towards GIG at 8:47, because it was slowly descending on its approach to the airport before finally landing. Notably, the flight crew never squawked 7700, which might have indicated a general emergency onboard.
The passenger who filmed the incident said on their post that while the aircraft landed safely, they questioned what number of balloons can be released recklessly into the air until an accident happened. they added.
Photo: Matheus Obst | Shutterstock
The GOL Boeing 737 MAX 8, registered as PS-GPL, has continued to operate flights for the airline, flying every day for the reason that close call, operating several flights every day until December 22. In line with the aviation analytics company Cirium, the Brazilian low-cost carrier typically operates five flights per day between the 2 airports, with three or 4 flights on some days. The one other airline operating flights on the POA-GIG route is Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (marketed as Azul), with the airline scheduling 22 one-way monthly flights in December 2023. As compared, GOL has 131 flights between the 2 airports through the month.
Hot Air Balloon Falls Near Copa Plane In Colombia
Over the past few months, balloon-related incidents have occurred on several occasions within the country. In September 2023, a KLM Boeing 777-300ER, registered as PH-BVW, encountered several balloons while on approach to Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport (GRU), with the pilots of the 777-300ER telling air traffic control (ATC) that not less than one foreign object was ingested by the aircraft’s right-hand engine at 500 feet (152.4 meters) of altitude. The aircraft quickly returned to service with the Dutch airline.
Photo: Bjoern Wylezich | Shutterstock
Meanwhile, in one other incident involving an unidentified airline and aircraft, the pilots were capable of capture a balloon on camera, which was carrying a Brazilian flag and flying at flight level (FL) 370 in July 2023. Lastly, in July 2022, a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER was forced to take evasive motion on approach to GRU when a hot-air balloon swerved into its path of approach. The aircraft landed safely on the airport after avoiding the thing.
Unsuitable Airport: LATAM Brasil Airbus A320 Almost Lands 33 Miles From Destination
The crew almost landed in an airfield 33 miles away from the true destination.