Delta Flight Diverted After Windshield Cracks

On Saturday, May 3, 2014, A Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles experienced a cracked windshield.

The Boeing 767-300 aircraft was flying at 38,000 feet when the pilot told passengers over the intercom that they would be making an emergency landing in Albuquerque. The pilot later informed the passengers that the reason for the emergency landing was that due to pressure the windshield in the cockpit arched, bubbled, and then shattered.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, not the entire windshield. “Our initial information was that the outside part of the windshield shattered but the interior part remained intact,” said FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford.

According to Delta Airlines “all windows and windshields are at least double paned,” said Morgan Durrant, a Delta spokesman said via e-mail. “This is a rare occurrence but the established procedure is to divert.”

There was no loss of cabin pressure, and the airplane landed in about 15 minutes