Southwest Emergency Landing due window

[Guest]

My first thought of course was a cockpit window as this does happen from time to time but I see from the pictures it was a passenger window.  I don't remember any report in the past of that happening.

Southwest Airlines plane 'forced into emergency landing after window SHATTERS in midair'

A SOUTHWEST Airlines plane travelling from Chicago to Newark has been forced to make an emergency landing after claims one of its windows shattered during the flight, days after a woman died following an engine explosion.

By Mark Chandler

 

PUBLISHED: 17:28, Wed, May 2, 2018 | UPDATED: 17:29, Wed, May 2, 2018

 

A Southwest Airlines plane landed after its window smashed midair

Images published on social media appeared to show smashed glass in a window of the emergency exit door near the wing.

The plane, with 76 people onboard, had to divert and land in Cleveland.

Flight 957 was diverted at around 11am local time, just two hours after it took off from Chicago.

Passengers said crew members reacted calmly to the incident and they were eventually shown to another flight.

Passenger Alejandro Aguina tweeted: “On my way to NJ for work and #Southwest957 gets a window crack. Only outside crack so we’re all safe.

“On our way to NJ in new plane. Thanks to the @SouthwestAir crew and pilots for handling it professionally.”

The incident is being investigated by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Southwest said the crew landed in Cleveland “for maintenance review of one of the multiple layers of a window plane”.

 

TWITTER/@CHAIKELK

The flight landed safely in Cleveland

They said: “The aircraft has been taken out of service for maintenance review, and our local Cleveland employees are working diligently to accommodate the 76 customers on a new aircraft to Newark.”

Today's incident comes just days after a woman died when she was nearly sucked out of a Southwest Airlines plane after its engine exploded.

Mum-of-two Jennifer Riordan died during the tragic flight from New York to Dallas on April 17.

It was the first US passenger airline fatality since 2009.

The April 17 engine explosion on Southwest Airlines flight 1380 was caused by a fan blade that broke off.

That incident has led to more inspection of fan blades in US aircraft engines

[Moon The Loon]

Would be interesting to know the number of cycles on that airframe. Thankfully, in this incident, it was an outer pane that broke.

[boestar]

I cannot recall hearing of any failures of a passenger window since the comet.

These are acrylic or lexan and very thick.  They also get inspected and replaced at certain intervals.  I would be interested in the findings here.

 

[Vsplat]

The location is interesting.  Are there any pictures from the outside?  It seems to be in the same general vicinity of the window that failed with the fan disintegration, but the angle from inside makes that hard to verify.

Vs