An Airbus A350 operated by Delta Air Lines was hit by gunfire at Santiago de Chile airport this morning after a shooting during a failed robbery that took the lives of two individuals on the airport tarmac.
The aircraft, an Airbus A350-941 with registration N574DZ, was previously owned by LATAM and transferred to the American company in August of 2021. With an age of just over 4 years, as its first flight was performed on February 4, 2019, the plane flies regularly the Santiago-Atlanta route.
Two people were killed in said attempted robbery on Wednesday morning. The illicit reportedly occurred in the airport cargo area and involved a group of armed individuals attempting to steal a large sum of money.
According to preliminary information, one of the robbers was killed in the confrontation, while the other deceased was a DGAC (Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil) officer, later identified as Claudio Alejandro Villar Rodriguez.
Dos muertos por un tiroteo en la pista del aeropuerto Arturo Merino Benítez de Santiago de Chile
12 delincuentes pretendían robar un camión de caudales.
Dañaron a balazos aviones de Latam y Delta.@aviacionline @Radio10 @flysicardi @pablospot @AvionesDigital @SpottersArg pic.twitter.com/bM84GK2anA— Sergio Marino (@marinosergio) March 8, 2023
The robbery took place at around 7:30 local time. The armed robbers, who according to initial information would be about 12, were unable to carry out the illicit and had to escape from the place. Shortly afterwards, two vehicles were found burned, which were allegedly used by the criminals to escape.
The authorities are investigating the incident and have not yet made any arrests, although two individuals were admitted to a hospital nearby with gunshot wounds, and it is suspected they could be related to the event.
This incident has raised concerns about airport security in Chile and throughout Latin America. In recent years, there have been several high-profile airport robberies in the region, including in Brazil and Mexico.
Airport cargo truck robberies in Latin America and the Caribbean occur with relative frequency. One of the most recent high-profile cases was in July 2019 when criminals stole 750 kilograms of gold at São Paulo/Guarulhos airport, and in April of the same year, armed men robbed a cargo area at Guanajuato airport, making off with $3 million in goods.
Just a year earlier, in 2018, São Paulo also suffered a million-dollar robbery, when a commando group intercepted the transfer of US$5 million being unloaded from a Lufthansa flight and was about to be distributed by a cash truck.
Update: Delta has rebuked initial reports of damage and confirmed after thorough examination that the aircraft was not affected by the situation.
Delta Refutes Reports of its Airbus A350 Being hit by Gunfire in Santiago airport Heist
FAKE NEWS…Delta entrego un comunicado indicando que el avión no tiene daños y el vuelo se realizó normalmente
FAKE NEWS…Delta comunica que no hubo daño en su avión el cual realizó su vuelo normal de retorno a Atlanta.