Bizarre: American Boeing 787 Keeps Diverting, Has Very Bad 25 Days

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Bizarre: American Boeing 787 Keeps Diverting, Has Very Bad 25 Days

Ben Schlappig
February 1, 2025

While I’m not sure what exactly to make of this, it certainly isn’t normal, and makes for quite a story…

In this post:

• Something’s wrong with an American Boeing 787-8
• What’s going on with this American Boeing 787-8?
• Bottom line

Something’s wrong with an American Boeing 787-8

It’s normal for planes to once in a while return to their origin due to a maintenance issue, since airplanes are complex machines that sometimes malfunction. However, one of American’s eight-year-old Boeing 787-8s with the registration code N819AN seems to be having issues with a frequency that’s raising eyebrows, as reported by @xJonNYC.

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:hpdpc63sv6vk2l4biga74tnx/post/3lh4xj6rkpc2k

On January 7, 2025, the aircraft was supposed to operate from Amsterdam (AMS) to Philadelphia (PHL) as flight AA203. It took off, only to land back in Amsterdam just under 90 minutes later.



The plane ended up being taken out of service for a few days, and then eventually operated a flight again on January 10, 2025, returning to Philadelphia. A few hours after returning to Philadelphia, the same plane departed for Dublin (DUB) as flight AA722. That flight didn’t last long, because less than an hour later, the aircraft returned to Philadelphia.



The plane was once again taken out of service for a few days, and then eventually operated a flight again on January 13, 2025, to Barcelona (BCN). That flight went off without a hitch, or something. Then on January 14, 2025, the same plane was supposed to operate back to Philadelphia as flight AA743. However, the flight ended up being canceled due to a maintenance issue. ... The aircraft stayed grounded in Barcelona until January 19, 2025, at which point it was supposed to operate back to Philadelphia as flight AA9781. Anyone want to take a wild guess as to what happened? Yep, you guessed right — the plane took off, and just over 30 minutes later, it was back on the ground in Barcelona.



After four more days on the ground, American clearly realized something was wrong with the aircraft, and on January 19, 2025, ferried it to Dallas (DFW), so it could undergo further maintenance. The plane remained grounded in Dallas through January 23, 2025, at which point it reentered service. ... Well, the plane managed to operate four successful flights with passengers. Then on February 1, 2025, the plane operated its fifth flight from Zurich (ZRH) to Philadelphia as flight AA93. The plane took off, and less than an hour later, the plane returned to its origin. Now that’s where it’s on the ground.



Just to recap, between January 7 and February 1 (25 days), the plane had four diversions, all while spending 19 days on the ground with maintenance issues.

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