Summary
- An Aeromexico Boeing 787-9 was forced to divert back to Mexico City.
- The aircraft, which was operating a flight from Mexico City to Madrid, Spain, via Monterrey, Mexico, reportedly had to divert because a first officer fell sick on the flight.
- The Aeromexico flight eventually landed in Madrid, Spain, on June 5.
An Aeromexico Boeing 787-9 was forced to divert back to Mexico City, Mexico, with reports indicating that the diversion was made because the first officer fell sick on the flight that was destined for Madrid, Spain on June 4, 2024. The aircraft was overfyling the United States when it made the decision to divert back to Mexico.
Diverting back to Mexico City
The Aeromexico Boeing 787-9 was operating flight AM34, which is a three-stop journey originating at Mexico City International Airport (MEX). Subsequently, the flight continues to Monterrey International Airport (MTY) before finally departing for Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) several hours later.
Nevertheless, on June 4, the flight diverted back to MEX after it had departed MTY to MAD. Flightradar24 records showed that the Boeing 787-9, registered as XA-ADL, began turning back to Mexico while it was just north of Lynchburg, Virginia, the US. Interestingly, as it turned around above Virginia, the aircraft also descended from its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet (11,277 meters) to 20,000 ft (6,096 m), which it stayed at throughout its journey back to MEX.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying
However, according to Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, a key commercial aerospace parts supplier, which includes avionics and auxiliary power units (APU), aircraft should pressurize their cabins while flying above 10,000 ft (3,048), which could potentially rule out a pressurization issue with the Boeing 787-9.
The Aviation Herald reported that one of the pilots, a first officer operating flight AM34, fell sick during the flight, which caused the flight to be diverted. The Aeromexico Boeing 787-9 landed at MEX at 17:33 local time (UTC -6). Simple Flying has approached the airline to confirm the nature of the diversion.
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Continuing to Madrid, Spain
Eventually, the Aeromexico widebody aircraft departed for MAD, leaving the Mexican capital using the special flight code AMX034R, according to Flightradar24. The Boeing 787-9 departed MEX at 20:18 local time and landed at MAD at 13:52 local time (UTC +2) on June 5.
Photo: Daniel Martínez Garbuno | Simple Flying
The flight tracking service’s records indicated that XA-ADL returned to MEX on flight AM2, a regularly scheduled flight connecting MAD and MEX directly on June 5. The direct itinerary between MEX and MAD is operated under flight AM1. However, the Aeromexico flight to MEX departed several hours later than its scheduled time. Per Flightradar24, the Boeing 787-9 was supposed to arrive at MEX at 14:25 local time yet landed at the Mexican capital at 19:30.
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Aeromexico’s flights to Spain
According to the aviation analytics company Cirium, Aeromexico has scheduled 555 weekly flights from Mexico to various international destinations worldwide, including the US and Spain, in June. In total, the Mexican carrier offers 95,046 departing weekly seats from its home country, amounting to 384.5 million available seat kilometers (ASK) during the month.
Photo: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock
However, MAD is Aeromexico’s only Spanish destination. The carrier serves the Spanish capital from three airports in Mexico: Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport (GDL), MEX, and MTY, with the airline scheduling 34 weekly departing flights to MAD.
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