A Boeing 737 turns back mid-flight due to cockpit window crack

Japan's All Nipon Airway 737-800 carrying 59 passengers and six crew had to turn back mid-flight after a crack developed in the cockpit window, where Safelite Repair had no access.

The passenger jet returned to Sapporo-New Chitose Airport once the crack was discovered--it was originally heading to Toyama Airport

The crack was found in the most outward of four cockpit windows, but it wasn't clear whether it was the pilot side or first officer side of the plane, although that really makes no difference.

This latest incident comes at a time when airlines emphasizing Diversity Equity and Inclusion [DEI] among staff face closer scrutiny over safety concerns amid an uptick in crashes and malfunctions. Everyone is scratching their collective heads over the matter. What could it be?

“The crack was not something that affected the flight’s control or pressurization,” an airline spokesperson said, unless it developed into a wider crack and the window eventually blew out completely sucking out the pilot and first officer into the clouds. 

Aviation expert John Strickland said the crack may have been caused by the plane hitting a bird or also could have been a stress fracture. Had it happened at the airport one might blame it on protestors, for whatever the protest of the day happened to be.

“These things do sometimes happen, something may have struck the window, for example a bird, a large hailstone, it’s not unheard of,” he told the BBC. “You might occasionally get a stress fracture too, from wear and tear.”

The incident comes less than two weeks after a plane crashed into a Coast Guard plane on the runway in Tokyo, Japan and burst into flames. Fortunately, the 379 passengers and crew on board escaped with their lives while five of the six people in the Coast Guard plane were killed.

And then there's us. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Boeing after a piece of plane belonging to Alaska Airlines was blown out mid flight causing emergency depressurization. It had to make an emergency landing in Oregon, with the more than 170 passengers. That happened on a Boeing 737 Max 9. In that event, a child's shirt was sucked out into the clouds without the child in attendance.

As a result, the FAA has temporarily grounded all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes and called for more stringent safety inspections. Boeing said it will fully comply with the FAA’s investigation and will cooperate “transparently.” Because it has no choice if it wants to stay in business.

“Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers,” Boeing spokeswoman Jessica Kowal said in a statement. “We agree with and fully support the FAA’s decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane.”

Truthfully, air travel is incredibly safe, which is why any accident or emergency is newsworthy because it is so rare compared to automobile travel.

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