Maintenance crews found bullet holes on an American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 following a return flight from Colombia.
An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 has been pulled from service following the discovery of bullet holes on the aircraft’s wing assembly. The damage was identified during a routine post-flight inspection at Miami International Airport (MIA) on February 23, 2026, after the jet completed a regional circuit between Florida and Colombia.
The aircraft involved, registered as N342SX, had operated Flight AA923 from Miami to Medellin’s Jose Maria Cordova International Airport on February 22. It remained on the ground in Colombia overnight before performing the return leg, Flight AA924, which touched down in Miami at approximately 10:24 AM the following morning. It was only after passengers had deplaned in Miami that maintenance crews noticed puncture marks on the right aileron, a critical flight control surface responsible for the aircraft’s roll and lateral balance.
While the origin of the gunfire remains under investigation, the incident has raised immediate security concerns regarding the ground environment in Medellin or potential low-altitude activity during the flight’s arrival or departure phases. Despite the structural damage, the flight cruised at level FL360 during the three-hour journey over the Caribbean, and the aircraft landed safely.
Following the discovery, American Airlines technicians at MIA performed temporary structural patching to stabilize the wing surface. Under the cover of darkness on the night of February 23, the plane was ferried on a non-commercial flight to the airline’s primary maintenance hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).
The aircraft remains grounded at DFW today, where specialized engineers are conducting a comprehensive assessment to ensure no internal hydraulics or wiring were compromised by the projectile.
