A Eurowings Airbus A319 lost one of the panels on its engine while overflying Germany. The incident occurred as the aircraft flying from Hamburg to Munich last Friday.

While it may seem insignificant that an oil access panel fell off of the aircraft, the opposite is actually true. If the part had fallen in the ocean, it likely would go unnoticed from the ground. However, such an occurrence over populated areas could be somewhat more serious. Thankfully it seems as though nobody was injured in this specific incident, although the aircraft is still grounded.

The flight in question

The flight where the panel fell off was reported as EW1973 on the 17th of May, according to The Aviation Herald. Eurowings' Airbus A319 was headed from Hamburg to Munich. The aircraft was due to depart Hamburg at 0850 local time, although the aircraft actually took off 15 minutes later at 0905.

While the Eurowings flight departed late, it actually made up for the delay in the flight. In fact, it landed at 1009, six minutes ahead of its scheduled 1015 arrival. The flight lasted a total of 1 hour and 4 minutes. There were 123 passengers onboard the Eurowings Airbus A319 aircraft.

Eurowings Airbus A319 Engine Panel
The flight path where the engine part could've fallen. Photo: FlightRadar24.com

Lost panel

When the aircraft was on the ground in Munich, it was inspected. This was presumably as part of a preflight before its next journey. During this inspection, it was discovered that the left engine was missing a panel. This turned out to be an oil access panel.

The aircraft has now been grounded while repairs are carried out. It seems strange that it takes so long to repair the Eurowings Airbus A319. As such, Simple Flying reached out to Eurowings. While they were unable to comment more on the repair, they did issue us the following statement:

We can confirm that on 17 May 2019, after a normal and safe landing of flight EW1973 from Hamburg to Munich on a Eurowings Airbus A319 with D-AGWH registration, the absence of an engine oil access panel on an engine was detected. Eurowings immediately reported this incident to the relevant authorities. The aircraft is currently being repaired.

What happened to the panel?

Thankfully it seems as though the lost panel did not have any impact when it plunged to the ground. No injuries due to falling debris have been reported. It is likely that it would've been found as debris had it fallen at the airport.

Eurowings Airbus A319 Engine Panel
The engine part could be resting in German farmland. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

It has likely fallen in a rural part of the landscape. Maybe it will be found by a farmer ploughing his field. However, the part could go unnoticed depending on where it landed.

Have you found a piece of Eurowings Airbus A319 engine in Germany this week? Let us know in the comments!