During a trip between Doha, Qatar and So Paulo, Brazil, a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 wide-body aircraft was involved in an unexpected event.
In order to avoid colliding with an unmanned hot air balloon, the passenger plane had to do an evasive maneuver.
On July 3, 2022, a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300 aircraft, registration A7-BEV, was operating the regularly scheduled long-distance passenger flight QR779 when the incident occurred.
Flightradar24.com’s flight history shows that the aircraft took off from Hamad International Airport (DOH) at 2:46 in the morning (UTC) and was intended to land at So Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) in Brazil at 10 in the morning (UTC), but the flight was delayed because of the strange incident.
Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300 (A7-BEV, built 2018) was forced to make an evasive maneuver on final approach to Sao Paulo-Guarulhos Intl (SBGR), Brazil, when an unmanned hot air-balloon drifted into the approach path. Flight #QR779 from Doha landed safely. https://t.co/z0waOu7fuQ pic.twitter.com/8nOtN163mV
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) July 3, 2022
A hot air balloon drifted into the plane’s flight path as it was making its approach to the airport of arrival.
The pilots executed evasive maneuvers after spotting the item to prevent a collision. Fortunately, this worked, and the aircraft was restored to its proper alignment after passing the balloon.
At 10:16 a.m. (UTC), the aircraft safely touched down at GRU airport after a brief 16-minute delay.
However, if the plane had struck the balloon, it might have been swallowed by the engine, resulting in significant harm and perhaps a potentially dangerous situation.
