**Update: 04/05/20 @ 14:44 UTC – Statement from GOL included below**

On Apr 29th a bird strike incident occurred involving a GOL Transportes Aereos (GOL) Boeing 737-700. The aircraft was flying out of Sao Paulo Guarulhos airport to the Brazilian city of Salvador. With the bird entering the engine, repeated compressor stalls were experienced forcing the crew to return the aircraft to Guarulhos.

GOL 737 NG
GOL has over 120 737 NG aircraft. Photo: Getty Images

A statement from a GOL spokesperson (translated from Portuguese) is as follows:

"GOL confirms that on Wednesday (29/4), after takeoff, the flight G3 2034 (Guarulhos-Salvador) had to return to the international airport of Sao Paulo due to the occurrence of bird collision with the engine. The landing was performed safely and the customers are getting all necessary assistance, being resettled on the next flight."

Flight details

The Aviation Herald reports that the flight was G3-2034, which is a daily service from Sao Paulo to Salvador. While flight information doesn't appear to be available for the specific April 29th flight via FlightRadar24.com, we can report that the service normally departs from Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU) at 11:20. It typically arrives in Salvador at 13:45, although recently, it has been landing early reasonably consistently.

The flight was climbing out of Guarulhos' runway 09R when the right-hand engine ingested one or more birds. This resulted in the engine experiencing repeated compressor stalls. Reacting to this incident, the crew shut down the engine. The aircraft then leveled off at 8000 feet, entering a holding pattern to burn off fuel. It then made a safe landing back at Guarulhos airport's runway 09L, about 45 minutes after departure.

G3-2034 flight path
The typical flight path of G3-2034. The April 29th flight path was not available. Photo: FlightRadar24.com

Aircraft details

The aircraft involved was listed as a Boeing 737-700 with registration PR-GON. Airfleets lists the narrowbody jet as being 20 and a half years old and a lease from GECAS. Up until 2002, the aircraft served with North Carolina-based Midway Airlines. However, the airline ceased operations in 2003.

According to FlightRadar24.com, PR-GON has not flown any services since the incident. This is understandable given that there is now an abundance of available replacement aircraft due to the current global aviation situation.

 

737 NG pickle forks
GOL will be adding more 737 MAX aircraft to its fleet. Photo: Boeing

 

In fact, GOL has a total fleet size of 128 737 aircraft. Of those, 121 are listed as being 737 NG variants, more specifically the -700 and -800 types. The remaining seven 737s are the newer MAX 8, which has been officially grounded since April 2019.

Boeing notes that GOL has an order for 60 737 MAX airplanes. At the time of the announcement, the order was valued at approximately $6 billion at published list prices. This also made it the most significant order in GOL's 12-year history and the largest airplane order from a single airline in South America's aviation history.

A note on bird strikes

For those unfamiliar with the term "bird strike," this is the term used when a bird or bat collides with an aircraft during flight.

Bird strikes are a significant aviation hazard, and while they have been responsible for scary incidents like US Airways Flight 1549 having to land on the Hudson River, they are by and large relatively rare.

 

delta bird flock
Bird strikes happen more often in the aviation industry, but carriers also have to deal with similar incidents on the ground. Photo: Getty Images

 

The US Fish and Wildlife Service reports that from 1990 to 2013, 142,675 wildlife strikes were reported, 97 percent of which involved birds. This has a financial impact for airlines, with wildlife strikes causing an estimated $900+ million in damage to U.S. civil and military aircraft annually.