{"id":145048,"date":"2026-06-06T11:07:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T05:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?p=145048"},"modified":"2026-06-06T03:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T21:38:25","slug":"iberia-airbus-a350-strikes-fire-truck-during-guayaquil-water-salute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/06\/iberia-airbus-a350-strikes-fire-truck-during-guayaquil-water-salute\/","title":{"rendered":"Iberia Airbus A350 Strikes Fire Truck During Guayaquil Water Salute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GUAYAQUIL\u2014<\/strong> An Iberia (IB)<\/a> Airbus A350 suffered damage during a ceremonial water salute at Guayaquil International Airport (GYE) in Ecuador, forcing the aircraft to cancel its scheduled return flight to Madrid and remain grounded for inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incident occurred on June 4, 2026, when Iberia introduced its Airbus A350-900 on the Madrid\u2013Guayaquil route for the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was intended to celebrate the deployment of the airline\u2019s flagship widebody aircraft quickly turned into an operational disruption after the jet collided with airport equipment during taxiing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Iberia
Photo: Eurospot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Airbus A350 Incident During Water Salute<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Water salutes remain a popular aviation tradition used to mark special milestones, including inaugural flights, fleet additions, route launches, and pilot retirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During these ceremonies, airport fire trucks spray streams of water overhead to create an arch through which an aircraft taxis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Guayaquil Airport, Iberia’s Airbus A350-900<\/a> successfully entered the water arch as planned. However, as the aircraft continued moving forward, its left wingtip struck the extended boom of one of the airport fire vehicles positioned alongside the taxiway, Aero Telegraph<\/a> flagged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Videos shared online from both inside and outside the aircraft captured the moment of impact. The footage showed the winglet making contact with the elevated firefighting equipment as the aircraft passed through the ceremonial setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a1Airbus #A350<\/a> de Iberia golpeado durante arco de agua! As\u00ed qued\u00f3 el winglet del reci\u00e9n estrenando avi\u00f3n de Iberia en #Guayaquil<\/a> al ser golpeado por el cami\u00f3n de bomberos durante el arco de agua de bienvenida. Investigaci\u00f3n en marcha \ud83d\udc47 pic.twitter.com\/mvFThC1zbl<\/a><\/p>— Nicol\u00e1s Larenas \u2708\ufe0f (@n_larenas) June 4, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>