A United Airlines flight diverted to Salt Lake City last week after an object hit the plane’s windshield at 36,000 feet, causing it to crack and injuring the pilot, according to the airline and officials.
Data from flight tracking website Flight Radar24 shows the plane was 36,000 feet in the air when an object hit the windshield. The flight then descended to a lower altitude, following standard protocol, before making an emergency landing at Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah.
A United Airlines flight diverted to Salt Lake City last week after an object hit the plane’s windshield at 36,000 feet, causing it to crack and injuring the pilot, according to the airline and officials.
@JuanNYC/
Amid the mystery of what may have hit the plane’s windshield Monday night, WindBorne Systems, a long-duration smart weather balloon company, issued a statement saying that the object that hit and cracked the windshield of the United flight may have been a company weather balloon.
The company said it is working with the FAA and NTSB on the investigation.
“We are working closely with the FAA on this matter. We immediately implemented changes to minimize the time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. These changes are now available with immediate effect. Additionally, we are further accelerating our plans to use live flight data to autonomously avoid aircraft, even if the aircraft are at a non-standard altitude. We are also actively working on new hardware designs to further reduce the magnitude and concentration of the force of impact,” WindBorne said in a statement.
The windshield is being transported to the National Transportation Safety Board laboratory as the investigation continues.
“This is an extraordinary situation in terms of what glass could cause some harm to people in the cabin, and what it could have hit at 36,000 feet. That’s really the big puzzle,” said ABC News aviation analyst John Nance.
Aircraft windshields are designed with multiple layers to be able to withstand damage from things like a bird strike, weather, or even debris, but experts say it’s rare for a bird strike so high in the sky.
A United Airlines flight diverted to Salt Lake City last week after an object hit the plane’s windshield at 36,000 feet, causing it to crack and injuring the pilot, according to the airline and officials.
@JuanNYC/
“You’re talking about a bird at that altitude. It’s very, very rare to say the least, you’re talking about maybe a drone, a weather balloon, anything of that nature that has enough mass to be able to cause this type of destruction,” Nance said.
United Airlines said the Boeing 737-MAX 8 with 134 passengers landed safely in Utah “to repair damage to its multi-layered windshield.” Authorities said the pilot was treated for minor injuries.
Heather Ramsey, a college student and passenger on board, said she first noticed something strange about 50 minutes into the flight, even before any announcements, when she heard one of the flight attendants abruptly raise her voice and tell the other to stop service and get to the back of the cabin.
Shortly afterward, Ramsey said the pilot announced the diversion of the flight.
“The plane hit an object and a cockpit window broke, so we need to make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City,” Ramsey told ABC News, recalling the pilot’s message.
Images of the broken windshield were first shared on social media by JonNYC aviation account.
The airline said the passengers were accommodated on another plane bound for Los Angeles later that day and United is working with its team to get the plane back into service.
Kerem Inal, Sam Sweeney and Clara McMichael contributed to this report.
