At this stage, taking a Southwest Flight is a little like taking your own life into your hands. A recent flight from Chicago to New Jersey was forced to make an unscheduled landing after a window cracked mid-flight, with some lovely jagged edges just perfect for calming your aviation nerves.
Luckily, no one was hurt. Passengers scurried back away from the window, the cabin pressurisation held, and the Flight 967 diverted to Cleveland.
“On my way to NJ for work and #Southwest967 gets a window crack,” said Alejandro Aguina on Twitter. “Only outside crack so we’re all safe. On our way to NJ in a new plane. Thanks to the Southwest Air crew and pilots for handling it professionally.”
https://twitter.com/Dro_AA/status/991704654210846721
It comes two weeks after a woman was killed after being partially sucked out a window on a Southwest flight. Debris from an exploded engine had broken the window, and she was partially pulled form the plane, dying of blunt force trauma to her head, neck and torso.
“It made you nervous because something like this just happened,” said passenger Paul Upshaw, who was sitting two rows back, to the AAP. “We didn’t know if it was going to crack open.”
@SouthwestAir #WN957 diverts and makes emergency landing in CLE due to busted window pic.twitter.com/OJMZ5KTyMS
— Chaikel (@ChaikelK) May 2, 2018
A Southwest Airlines spokesperson said the crew made the “unscheduled stop” for a maintenance review of the potential crack.
“The are multiple layers of panes in each aircraft window. NO emergency landing was declared. The aircraft maintained pressurisation, and the flight landed uneventfully in Cleveland.”
The plane has been taken out of service for a maintenance review, but some people aren’t convinced to fly on the airline again.
https://twitter.com/nickpernisco/status/991738059195650048
