Dreamliner Engine Ingests Cargo Container

Pieces of a cargo container lodged in American 787 engine.

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An American Airlines Boeing 787-9 was severely damaged when it ingested a cargo container in its right engine while taxiing at O'Hare International Airport. The plane had just arrived from London Heathrow and was on its way to the gate when the mishap occurred about 3 p.m. local time. It took another hour to get the plane to the gate.

One passenger reported on social media that the captain said the container was blown off a truck by another aircraft's jet blast and sucked into the massive turbofan. There were no injuries but photos show pieces of the cargo container wedged into the nacelle. The FAA is looking into it.

Audio of the aftermath below is courtesy of LiveATC.

Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.