NTSB probes United 737 windshield crack possible balloon strike

A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 en route from Denver to Los Angeles on Oct. 16 made an emergency diversion to Salt Lake City after the aircraft’s cockpit windshield cracked at cruising altitude, officials said. The incident occurred near Moab, Utah, at about 36,000 feet. All 134 passengers and six crew members on board landed safely, and the flight’s remaining travelers were rebooked onto another aircraft later that day.

Crew members descended roughly 10,000 feet and completed a precautionary landing in Salt Lake City, where maintenance teams assessed the multilayered windshield. United Airlines said the aircraft did not lose cabin pressure. Photographs circulating from inside the cockpit showed shards of glass on the control panel and cuts to a pilot’s forearm; airline and federal statements described the pilot’s injuries as minor. The replacement flight reached Los Angeles several hours later.

The National Transportation Safety Board said investigators have opened a probe, collecting radar, weather and flight recorder data, and that the damaged windshield will be sent to NTSB laboratories for examination. The agency has not yet determined the cause of the damage.