Southwest Airlines flight to Newark, New Jersey made an emergency landing on Wednesday due to a broken passenger window as the airline claimed the situation was a maintenance issue.
Flight No. 957, which took off from Chicago Midway Airport, was diverted to Cleveland, Ohio, just before 11 a.m. two hours after taking off, according to Flight View.
It landed safely at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and no one was injured, officials said.
A Southwest spokeswoman said the decision was made to divert the plane for maintenance review of one of the multiple layers of a window pane.
The flight landed uneventfully in Cleveland, she 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.
In a subsequent statement, the airline said the cabin maintained pressure as there are multiple layers of panes in each window and that technically no emergency landing was made.
Pictures posted on Twitter show several cracks in one of the Boeing 737-700’s windows.
The 76 passengers aboard the flight were calmly directed by a crew member to grab their belongings and hop on another flight.
We’re going to walk you right onto the plane next door and we’re going to let you be taken care of, the member tells them in a video posted on Twitter.
The jet was flying at 26,000 feet over Lake Erie at 514 mph when it was suddenly diverted, Flight Aware shows.
A Southwest spokeswoman said the decision was made to divert the plane for maintenance review of one of the multiple layers of a window pane.
The flight landed uneventfully in Cleveland.
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.
The crack appeared on the outside of the plane.
The FAA said it’s investigating the incident.
Southwest Airlines Flight 957, a Boeing 737 flying from Chicago Midway Airport to Newark Airport, requested to divert to Cleveland Hopkins Airport due to a broken passenger window.
The aircraft landed without incident at Cleveland.
The harrowing situation comes two weeks after a woman was nearly sucked out of a Southwest flight when an engine exploded in midair, causing shrapnel to shatter the plane’s window.
Mother of two Jennifer Riordan was killed April 17 aboard the flight from New York City to Dallas, which made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.
Two pieces of a broken fan blade were found inside the engine of a Southwest Airlines jet, but other pieces dislodged the cowling that damaged the wing and fuselage of the Boeing 737-700, investigators said Thursday.
One passenger died and eight others were injured April 17 when one of 24 fan blades broke off inside the plane’s left engine during a flight from New York to Dallas.
But the pilots were able to land safely with one engine in Philadelphia, despite problems controlling the plane.
One of the blade fragments, which matched the root where the blade broke off the engine, measured 12 inches long and the full width of the blade, and weighed nearly 7 pounds, investigators said.
Another piece was about 2 inches long and twisted, and weighed about two-thirds of a pound, investigators said.
Cracks from usage were found on the No. 13 blade that broke. But investigators said no cracks were identified in ultrasound testing of the remaining blades.
Airline engines are designed to hold broken pieces, to prevent them from damaging the rest of the plane or injuring passengers.
But the majority of the front engine cowling the entire outer barrel, the aft bulkhead and the inner barrel forward of the containment ring were knocked off the Southwest engine, investigators said.
Large pieces were recovered on the ground in rural Pennsylvania.
The leading edge of the plane's left wing, the left side of the fuselage and the left horizontal stabilizer in the tail exhibited significant impact damage, investigators said.
A large gouge consistent with a piece of the cowl was adjacent to row 14, where the window was missing and the passenger partially exited the plane.
No window, airplane structure, or engine material was found inside the cabin.
During interviews with investigators, flight attendants reported hearing a loud sound and feeling vibration when the engine failed.
Oxygen masks deployed automatically in the cabin.
As flight attendants moved down the aisle, they found a woman in row 14 partially out of the window and attempted to pull her back in.
Two passengers helped and were able to bring in the passenger, Jennifer Riordan, but she later died from her injuries.
Pilots reported experiencing a sudden change in cabin pressure, the plane rolling left about 41 degrees, the sound of cockpit alarms sounded and a gray puff of smoke, investigators said.
The flight crew reported that the airplane exhibited handling difficulties throughout the remainder of the flight..
On April 20, the engine manufacturer CFM International issued a service bulletin calling for inspections of all fan blades on similar engines with at least 20,000 flights, and subsequently after every 3,000 cycles of takeoffs and landings. The engines are called CFM56-7B.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered those inspections the same day, and called for inspections within 20 days of all similar engines with at least 30,000 flights.
The FAA updated the order Wednesday, estimating 3,716 engines in the U.S. fleet would have to be inspected at a cost of $631,720.
Airlines including Southwest, which flies 737 aircraft exclusively in its 700-plane fleet, have begun inspections.
The NTSB hasn’t drawn any conclusions about what caused the accident or what could be done to prevent it. The investigation could take a year or longer.
The accident engine had flown more than 32,000 flights and was last overhauled 10,712 flights before breaking, investigators said.
President Trump congratulated the plane's crew, including Capt. Tammie Jo Shultz and First Officer Darren Ellisor, and passengers Monday in the Oval Office.
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