A weather balloon may have been responsible in the cracking of the windshield on a United Airlines flight last week, which caused injuries to the pilot, prompting an emergency landing, according to the National Transportation Safety Board chair.
Windborne systems issues statement
Aerospace company Windborne Systems has issued a statement that one of its weather balloons may have caused the windshield to crack, leading to the United Airlines flight’s emergency landing.
On October 16, the United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 en route from Denver to Los Angeles faced an unexpected mid-air emergency, forcing a diversion to Salt Lake City and an abrupt descent after a cockpit windshield cracked at cruising altitude of 36,000 ft.
A Twitter user, Scott Manley, made the connection that the Windborne system’s weather balloons use sand as a ballast and how the window frame of the flight looked as if it was sandblasted. In response to this theory, Windborne Systems’ CEO, John Dean, on X, stated that the company had also made the connection soon after the news of the flight broke. The company investigated this UA1093 flight incident, and at around 6am PT on Sunday, it sent its preliminary investigation to both NTSB and FAA. The company is also working with the authorities, Dean said. He further added:
“Windborne operates a constellation of long-duration lightweight weather balloons to improve weather forecasts, with much of our data going to both US and international governments. We have been coordinating with the FAA for the entire history of the company. The system is designed not to pose a risk to human life in the worst-case event of a collision. This is what the FAA 101 and ICAO weight limits are for. And indeed, there were no serious injuries and no depressurisation event to my knowledge as a result of the collision.”
“However, I’m still surprised to see the spallation of the windshield on the inside. I find this extremely concerning and unacceptable in the case of a collision, regardless of what the official regulations are. It resulted in injury to a pilot, which I’m simply not okay with whatsoever.”
NTSB investigation ongoing
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy confirmed receiving these reports from the company and is reviewing the same as part of the investigation. Homendy also warned that in certain situations, the consequences of the incident could have been dire. This sounds an alarm against the potential damage caused by space debris and its risks.
Windborne has said that it has not received any operational guidance as of yet. However, it has deployed a software change soon after the incident that is meant to minimise time at active flight levels. They are also “manually checking it across the full constellation.” The company is also actively working on new designs for its hardware to minimise risk by reducing “impact force magnitude and concentration,” according to Dean.
What are your thoughts on this incident and the risk of space debris for aviation? Share your thoughts in the comments.
