A fully occupied Boeing Dreamliner 787-9 had to turn around and make an emergency landing at an altitude of 12,000 meters because the windshield suddenly cracked.
The Virgin Atlantic aircraft involved (Flight VS41) was en route from Heathrow to San Francisco when it was forced to turn around over the North Atlantic between Greenland and Iceland at an altitude of 40,000 feet (about 12,000 meters) due to a crack in the windshield. The incident occurred on May 27, but has only now come to light.
The British newspaper “Sun” shows pictures of the window, which show that the middle pane of glass is dented in several places.
The four-layered window broke three hours after takeoff, causing fear and terror among the cockpit crew. The emergency landing went smoothly.
Because the aircraft was flying at an altitude outside the bird’s flight path, the cause of the crack is currently unclear. At the time of the incident, the outside temperature was minus 50 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, the pilots dismissed fears of decompression of the Boeing Dreamliner 787-9.
As reported by The Standard, Virgin has apologized to its customers. “On 27 May 2024, our flight VS41 from London Heathrow to San Francisco returned to Heathrow due to damage to the outer layer of the cockpit windshield. At no time was the safety of the aircraft, our customers or our cabin crew compromised and the captain made the decision to return to Heathrow where we had the spare parts and tools available,” a spokesperson for the airline is quoted as saying.
The incident is one of a series of problems with Boeing aircraft in recent times.
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