SALT LAKE CITY — The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating after United Airlines flight 1093 from Denver to Los Angeles was diverted to Salt Lake City last week due to a crack in one of the layers of the plane's windshield.
The Boeing 737-8 departed Denver International Airport at 5:51 a.m. Thursday. While cruising over eastern Utah, a crack on the windscreen developed, according to the NTSB.
"On Thursday, United flight 1093 landed safely in Salt Lake City to address damage to its multilayered windshield," the NTSB said in a statement obtained by Scripps News. "We arranged for another aircraft to take customers to Los Angeles later that day, and our maintenance team is working to return the aircraft to service."
According to officials, aircraft windshields are designed to remain safe even if any layer sustains damage. Investigators said they are still gathering radar, weather, and flight recorder data, but a windscreen has been sent to NTSB laboratories for examination. They will now work to determine whether something hit the Boeing 737 jet mid-flight and, if so, what it was.
There were 134 passengers and six crew members on board at the time of the incident, the NTSB confirmed. No other information was immediately available.
The Federal Aviation Administration is currently not responding to media inquiries, citing the ongoing government shutdown, which entered its 20th day on Monday. House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned that this could become the longest government shutdown in American history, surpassing previous records as negotiations between Republicans and Democrats remain at an impasse.