A Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight from Denver to Los Angeles is making headlines after its windshield cracked in mid-air. The United Airlines flight was diverted to Salt Lake City after the accident, aviationa2z.co reported. The shocking incident on flight UA1093 was reported on Thursday 16 October.
According to the report, a total of 140 passengers and crew were on board the aircraft registered as N17327 at the time of the tragic incident, with the pilot injured. Before landing safely at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), the plane dropped nearly 100 feet, from 36,000 to 26,000 feet, media reports indicate. Meanwhile, passengers incurred a six-hour delay to complete their journey to Los Angeles on a replacement Boeing 737 MAX 9.
Images shared online by JonNYC show the high-energy impact and show bruises on the pilot’s arm in addition to burns on the windshield. Following a much larger than simple structural crack, the pilots quickly followed emergency protocol before diverting to the nearest suitable airport. The pilots began their descent at 26,000 feet before landing safely on Runway 16L.
Cause of disaster — ‘Space debris or meteorite’?
Based on burn patterns and impact marks, space debris or a small meteorite is believed to be the cause of the impact, aviationa2z.com reported. It is important to note that aircraft windshields are specially designed to remain unaffected by bird strikes and pressure changes. However, airframe bodies cannot withstand impacts from high-velocity debris moving at orbital speeds.
A United Airlines plane hits the tail of another plane
In an unrelated incident involving United Airlines, a plane heading to its gate collided with another plane at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. In the incident, the first plane clipped the tail of another United plane. The incident occurred on Saturday, October 18, AP authorities reported.
Airline officials said in a statement that no one was injured in Friday’s incident and the 113 passengers on Flight 2652 from Jackson Hole, Wyoming were allowed to exit the plane normally after the delay. According to officials, the second plane had its horizontal stabilizer hit and was not moving when the planes collided.
However, a passenger named Bill Marcus aboard the plane that crashed into another plane told CBS News Chicago that he didn’t even realize anything had happened until the pilot said he was going to be delayed to document anything. He indicated that the plane took about 40 minutes to reach the gate and realized the problem when he saw several people gathered around the right wing.
“I was shocked that I didn’t feel something more, although when they separated the planes, there was some jolt,” the passenger was quoted as saying by CBS News Chicago.
