PUERTO MONTT, Chile — A LATAM Chile Airbus A320-200 made an emergency return to Puerto Montt’s Tepual Airport on June 23, 2026, after a vulture engine ingestion on initial climb triggered a compressor stall, visible flames, loud bangs, and severe vibration.
CC-BAZ was operating as flight LA-311 to Punta Arenas when the strike occurred shortly after lifting off from Runway 35 at approximately 4 p.m. local time. Passengers described a rapid sequence of gunshot-like sounds, orange sparks, and a burning smell before the crew took emergency action.
“We were flying fine, maybe ten minutes in, and suddenly there were sounds like gunshots,” passenger Bastián Cárdenas told Radio Bío-Bío. “You could see flashes outside — orange sparks — and a smell came through.”
Crew Response
The flight crew leveled off at approximately 3,000 feet, shut down the left CFM56-5B4/P engine, and entered a holding pattern before returning. The aircraft landed safely at Puerto Montt roughly 90 minutes after departure, with no injuries reported.
According to AeroInside, the captain confirmed to passengers that a vulture had struck the left engine. CC-BAZ remained on the ground for at least 19 hours as inspections began. A replacement A321-200 (CC-BEA) eventually carried passengers to Punta Arenas, arriving roughly seven hours behind schedule.
Aviation Safety Network classified aircraft damage as minor and recorded zero fatalities or injuries among all occupants.
Why Vulture Engine Ingestion Is a Distinct Hazard
New World vultures — including the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) and the larger Andean Condor common to southern Chile’s Patagonian corridor — rank among the most aerodynamically dangerous wildlife species for commercial aircraft. Their mass, soaring behavior, and tendency to circle in thermals at low-to-moderate altitudes place them directly in the flight path during climb-out, the most power-critical phase of flight.
Large raptors and vultures consistently top the list of species causing the costliest damage per event in FAA wildlife strike data. A single heavy-bird ingestion can require engine removal, fan blade inspection, and borescope survey of hot-section components — a maintenance package that can exceed $1 million in downtime and repair costs even when classified as structurally “minor.”
The CFM56 family, which powers the vast majority of the global A320 fleet, is certificated to handle defined bird-ingestion scenarios. But the compressor stall documented here is a predictable outcome when ingestion mass approaches the outer edge of that tolerance — particularly with large soaring birds that can weigh 2–5 kg or more.
Patagonia’s Seasonal Risk Window
Puerto Montt-Tepual Airport sits at the edge of Chile’s Lake District, where forests, wetlands, and coastline sustain dense populations of soaring birds. Unlike flat-terrain airports where wildlife management is largely a ground-level problem, airports adjacent to complex terrain contend with birds riding thermals at runway altitude throughout the day.
Southern Hemisphere winter concentrates migratory raptors along coastal Chile’s thermal corridors. Aviation safety researchers have noted that large bird strikes tend to cluster in winter and early spring at airports near migration routes — making June incidents in Patagonia foreseeable, even without active hazing programs and real-time wildlife radar.
Chile’s Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC) investigates wildlife strikes under ICAO Annex 13 protocols. No preliminary report had been published as of this writing, and LATAM Airlines Group had not issued a public statement.
Engine Outlook and Broader Implications
CC-BAZ will require a full engine inspection before returning to revenue service. Depending on borescope and physical examination results, the CFM56 may need fan blade replacement or compressor module work — or removal to an overhaul shop.
Large-bird strikes with confirmed engine ingestion remain among the most consequential wildlife events in commercial aviation, despite representing a small fraction of annual strike totals. The Puerto Montt incident underscores that effective wildlife hazard management — habitat modification, coordinated hazing, and continuous monitoring — remains an unresolved challenge at airports embedded in biodiverse ecosystems.
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