What A Drag! American Airlines Flight from SC To TX Diverts After Losing A Winglet Aloft

On the evening of 03 May 2022, an American Airlines (AA) Flight from Charleston (KCHS) to Dallas-Fort Worth (KDFW) apparently lost a winglet during severe turbulence in flight and took an unplanned tour of the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (KBHM), just past the halfway mark of its planned route.

Envoy, the regional carrier was the operator for that segment of the flight landed at KBHM just after 7pm, following which the crew observed the absence of the winglet.

To the uninitiated, the winglets are those upward pointing extensions, or sometimes split scimitar (where a portion points down and up) at the tips of the aircraft wing that minimize the comingling of airflow from the upper and lower surfaces of the wings, thereby reducing drag, and subsequently improving the ‘fuel efficiency’ of the aircraft. While the aircraft could limp along to its destination without winglets, the loss of one may have created an imbalance around the vertical axis, which at the usual cruise speed might become exhausting to manage for the rest of the flight. Perhaps it comes as no surprise that the fuel trucks and other ground vehicles seem to take a liking to the downward pointing winglets!

As stated by one of the passengers who was grading the landing, it was a smooth one and without incident.  American Airlines billed it as a ‘mechanical issue’, nothing to make a fuss about, the aircraft was mostly intact, it could still fly, and there were no injuries. It’s been said that it’s better to be on the ground wishing you were up there, rather than in the air wishing you were on the ground.

FMI: https://envoyair.com, https://aa.com