An All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 737-800 plane turned around mid-flight on the weekend after a crack was discovered on its cockpit window.
ANA Flight 1182 was on its was from Sapporo to Toyama, but returned to the Sapporo-New Chitose airport after the crack was discovered on the outmost layer of glass on the four layers of the cockpit window. An airline spokesperson confirmed that there were no injuries among the 59 passengers and six crew.
The plane landed back at Sapporo at 12:10pm local time.
The spokesperson confirmed that the crack was found as the flight passed over Hakodate.
“The crack was not something that affected the flight’s control or pressurisation,” the spokesperson said.
Aviation expert, John Strickland, told the BBC that the cause of the crack was unknown.
“These things do sometimes happen, something may have struck the window, for example a bird, a large hailstone, it’s not unheard of”.
“You might occasionally get a stress fracture too, from wear and tear,” he added, “but that’s very rare”.
Strickland said that ANA was likely to replace the entire window, rather than just the outer layer to ensure that the aircraft is safe.
The turnaround comes after a tumultuous week for Boeing. The emergency door on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 blew out mid-flight the weekend before last.
The incident spurred the global grounding of the MAX 9 aircraft, with the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducting an investigation into the matter and United Airlines, the largest owner of MAX 9 aircraft, reporting loose bolts on a number of its jets’ door plugs.
Boeing’s CEO, Dave Calhoun, has acknowledged the mistake the manufacturer made and said Boeing will be working alongside the NTSB as it conducts its investigation.
The whole ordeal has wiped over 12 per cent off Boeing’s share price since 5 January.
(Featured Image: All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing B737-800 – iStock/viper-zero)
