Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Landing gear collapse halts VivaAerobus flight in Puerto Vallarta

A VivaAerobus aircraft lining up to take off from Puerto Vallarta International Airport Thursday afternoon sustained a nosegear collapse, forcing the airport to close temporarily while a maintenance check was conducted on the plane.

None of the 127 passengers and crew on board flight 4343, which was bound for Monterrey, Nuevo León, was hurt, the airline said. In accordance with the airline’s safety policies, all were evacuated via slides.

The passengers were transferred to another flight to Monterrey.

It was the first landing gear failure in the discount airline’s operating history, according to the aviation publication Aerotime Hub.

The nosegear collapse occurred as the Airbus A320 was backtracking on the runway in preparation for takeoff and made a 180-degree turn to line up, according to Aviation Herald.

The Mexican airline, based out of Monterrey, uses 43 Airbus A320 planes that have an average of 4.5 years of service in VivaAerobus’s fleet, according to Aerotime Hub, which also said that the aircraft in question was 15 years old.

“We regret the inconvenience that this incident has caused and reaffirm our commitment to security on each of our flights, our company’s No. 1 priority,” VivaAerobus officials said in a statement Thursday

Aerotime Hub (en), The Aviation Herald (en)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
In a video announcing the appointment of Edgar Amador Zamora, President Sheinbaum described the departing finance minister (L) Rogelio Ramírez de la O as Mexico's "best economist."

Sheinbaum appoints Amador as finance minister after Ramírez steps down

1
Former Bank of Mexico adviser Edgar Amador will be Mexico's new finance minister, though Rogelio Ramírez de la O will continue to advise the president on international affairs.
Dusty, abandoned backpacks and shoes at a secret crematorium in Jalisco

Search collective calls on authorities to investigate a grisly find in Jalisco

1
Volunteer searchers have uncovered three clandestine crematoriums in Jalisco, containing burnt remains, a list of apparent missing persons and 200 shoes.
Each year, large quantities of sargassum contaminate Mexico's southeastern beaches.

UNAM researchers develop drywall from sargassum

1
UNAM researchers have invented a way to repurpose the seaweed — 23 to 25 million tonnes of which could wash ashore in Mexico this year — as the principal component for drywall.