Plane Flies For 9-Hours After Windshield Cracks Over Atlantic Ocean, Lands Safely
A KLM flight to Brazil from the Netherlands was caught in a mid-air horror when its cockpits windshield cracked during the journey. The crack forced the plane to return to its point of departure four hours and 40 minutes into the flight. The damage was limited to the outer pane of the windshield and the pilots were able to fly it for the next nine hours back to the point of take off.
A KLM flight to Brazil from the Netherlands was caught in a mid-air horror when its cockpit¡¯s windshield cracked during the journey. The crack forced the plane to return to its point of departure, four hours and 40 minutes into the flight.
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The KL705 flight that took off on Boxing Day, November 26, departed from Amsterdam Schipol at 10.41am for Rio de Janeiro, due to land at 18.20 pm, both local times. As it was flying over the Atlantic, the windshield¡¯s outer pane cracked with a sound loud enough to be audible in the passenger cabin, as per a report by The Aviation Herald.
Thankfully, the damage was limited to the outer pane of the windshield and the pilots were able to fly it for the next nine hours, back to the point of take off. ¡°Only the outer pane, so no very big damage of the window [sic],¡± the pilots told air traffic controllers mid-flight.
Once the aircraft landed safely back in the Netherlands, passengers of the flight were moved to a replacement aircraft which eventually made it to Rio de Janeiro.
(Representative Image: Reuters)
¡°After 4.5 hours of flight it was decided to return to Amsterdam to repair a technical issue. The safety of passengers was not at risk. The plane landed safely at Schiphol at about 8 pm local time. Passengers got on board a new aircraft and continued their journey at 8.30 pm local time,¡± The Independent confirms in a report, quoting a spokesperson for the airline.
The mid-flight scare
The report by The Independent explains that there are three layers on cockpit windshields. These include ¡°a glass outer pane, a plastic middle and a glass inner pane.¡± It quoted a retired John Cox stating that either of the glass panes can withstand full pressure in case the other pane cracks.
It is then up to the pilots to determine the level of damage to the windshield and diver the place accordingly for safe landing.
A similar incident took place back in October this year, when A Dulles-bound United Airlines 349 was forced to make an emergency landing after a hailstorm left the windshield cracked.
