A United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing last month after an unknown item struck the plane’s windshield was confirmed to be an apparent weather balloon, according to the NTSB.
According to the captain, while established in cruise flight at flight level, he noticed an object distant on the horizon. But before he was able to mention the object to the first officer, the object make impact with the windshield, according to the report.
WindBorne Systems Inc. reported that they lost contact with one of their global sounding balloons (GSBs) that was in the vicinity of the airplane at the time of the accident.
The GSB system consists of a balloon envelope filled with lift gas, an avionics package for flight control, communications, and sensing, and a ballast system for altitude control.
According to Windborne, the GSBs are designed with the intent to minimize harm in the event of an impact during flight or landing.
“The impact resulted in both pilots being showered with pieces of glass,” the NTSB’s report said. No one else on board was injured.
The captain sustained multiple superficial lacerations to his right arm; the first officer was uninjured.
The Oct. 16 flight from Denver to Los Angeles was diverted to Salt Lake City.
“On Thursday, United flight 1093 landed safely in Salt Lake City to address damage to its multilayered windshield,” the statement from United Airlines read at the time of the incident.
“We arranged for another aircraft to take customers to Los Angeles later that day and our maintenance team is working to return the aircraft to service.”
A 2023 report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimated that there is a one trillion to one probability of a piece of space debris fatally damaging an aircraft.
The report also anticipated that the number of hazardous fragments surviving reentries each year will reach 28,000 by 2035.
