On October 9th at 06:23 local time, Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR/ARG) Boeing 737-8HX, registration LV-FQY, landed at Almirante Marcos Alberto Zar International Airport in Trelew, coming from Buenos Aires, covering regular flight AR1802 with 165 passengers on board.
Just almost an hour later, this same aircraft was ready to operate flight AR1803 between Trelew and Buenos Aires, beginning pushback at 07:16 local time. After about 10 minutes, it got to runway 25 and started takeoff.
The airport, located in Argentine Patagonia, has a runway 2,560 meters long, or about 8,400 feet, with runways threshold 07 and 25. During their takeoff roll, at around 100 knots, the plane’s left engine failed, causing a fire. The crew took immediate action, braking two seconds following the fire and leaving the runway on the first taxiway.
After being reviewed and the malfunction corrected, at 15:11 local time on October 19th, the Boeing 737-800 LV-FQY departed Trelew bound for Buenos Aires on a ferry flight, where Aerolíneas Argentinas has its facilities and maintenance hangars.
This Boeing 737-8HX, with serial number 39456, was incorporated by Aerolíneas Argentinas in January 2014, brand new from the factory. It received the Argentine registry LV-FQY and arrived in Buenos Aires from Seattle Boeing Field via Caracas on January 26th, 2014.
The aircraft has a configuration for 170 passengers in two classes, being 8 seats in Business and 162 seats in Economy, and is powered by two CFMI CFM56-7BE engines, like other Boeing 737-800s in the Aerolíneas Argentinas fleet.
Less than a week after the first incident, on the morning of October 15th, another Aerolíneas Argentinas Boeing 737-800, in this case with Argentine registration LV-FSK, was parked at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Airport in downtown Buenos Aires, the country’s main airport, scheduled to operate flight AR1526 to Córdoba.
At 09:09 local time, the aircraft, with 168 passengers on board, headed for runway 31, located south of Aeroparque. Thirty minutes later, takeoff commenced.
In contrast to the incident that occurred just six days earlier in Trelew, the Boeing 737 took off from Aeroparque, as can be seen in a video shared on social media, but only seconds after takeoff, a few feet above the ground, the left engine suffered a failure and caught fire. The crew shut down the engine and, for the next 120 seconds, kept the plane at an altitude of 1,200 feet, then climbed to 5,000 feet and landed safely at 10:00 local time at Ezeiza Airport, another airport in Buenos Aires, following a 21-minute flight.
The second incident, occurred on October 15th, was similar to the first, held on October 9th, as both happened seconds after takeoff, involving two different Boeing 737-800s from the same airline and two left CFM engines. Furthermore, the aircraft concerned have similar characteristics and engine components.
As a result, Aerolíneas Argentinas decided to ground several Boeing 737-800s from its fleet, all of which have CFM engines with similar characteristics to those involved in the two incidents. According to our database, the airline has 28 Boeing 737-800s and two Boeing 737-800(F)s in its fleet, all with CFM engines but with different specifications.
At the time of publication, seven Aerolíneas Argentinas Boeing 737-800s are grounded due to these failures at Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires.
- Boeing 737-81D with registration number LV-FQY
- Boeing 737-8BK with registration number LV-FQZ
- Boeing 737-8BK with registration number LV-FSK
- Boeing 737-8HX with registration number LV-FUA
- Boeing 737-8HX with registration number LV-FUB (*)
- Boeing 737-8SH with registration number LV-FUC
- Boeing 737-8SH with registration number LV-FVM
- Boeing 737-8SH with registration number LV-FVO
On October 23rd, after six days grounded at Ezeiza, the Boeing 737-8HX, registration LV-FUB, resumed regular service with flight AR1662 between Buenos Aires Ezeiza and Bariloche.
As well as confirming which planes are grounded, Aerolíneas Argentinas stated in the same press release that it “fully complies with the checks specified by its manufacturers. Despite this, and the company’s institutional strength in terms of its commitment to safety, this is the fourth incident recorded in the last year involving the same type of engine. These are engines manufactured by CFM (GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines), with a specific type of component that caused these failures.”
“CFM recommends an inspection after 17,200 cycles (landings and takeoffs). None of the engines that experienced failures were close to reaching that threshold, so a technical opinion was requested before returning these aircraft to service. At the same time, technical opinions were also requested from other airlines in the region that operate aircraft with this engine type and have experienced similar events.”
As with the Boeing 737 LV-FQY, the Boeing 737 LV-FSK was introduced by Aerolíneas Argentinas brand new, part of an order for more than 25 Boeing 737-800s. Both aircraft arrived in Buenos Aires from Seattle in 2014.
Boeing 737-800s are the main aircraft in Aerolíneas Argentinas’ fleet, with 30 at the time of publication. Embraer 190s, Boeing 737 MAX 8s, and Boeing 737-700s are also part of the fleet, with respect to narrow-body aircraft. It also has wide-body aircraft, being Airbus A330-200, which are focused mainly on international operations.
| Aircraft | Total | Type | Average age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A330-200 | 10 | Passenger | 15 years |
| Boeing 737-700 | 4 | Passenger | 18 years |
| Boeing 737-800 | 28 | Passenger | 17 years |
| Boeing 737-800(F) | 2 | Cargo | 24 years |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 13 | Passenger | 5 years |
| Embraer 190 | 24 | Passenger | 14 years |
Regarding other fleet developments, Aerolíneas Argentinas is incorporating new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which are part of an order placed almost 10 years ago. One of them arrived in 2024, another this year, and two more are still to be delivered within the next two months, with the order expected to be completed in 2026.
At the same time, the airline is retiring from regular service its Boeing 737-700s, added as of June 2009. Next year, it will only operate with its own 737-700s, registered as LV-BYY and LV-GOO.
Cover photo: © La Roche Spotters – JetPhotos (Buenos Aires Aeroparque, Argentina)
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