The NTSB is now said to be focusing its investigation on the possibility that a piece of weather balloon’s data package injured a pilot and caused damage to the windshield and frame on a United 737 MAX over Colorado on Thursday. Various reports that include watermarked photos of the damage suggest the plane was struck by a falling object not long after taking off from Denver for Los Angeles. One of the photos shows a pilot’s arm peppered with small cuts and scratches. Sources told AvBrief Sunday that the focus of the investigation is on a weather balloon payload. Earlier reports suggested it could have been something from space but that seems unlikely since the velocity of anything that survived reentry would likely have caused substantial damage beyond a cracked windshield. The theory was likely amplified by the captain of the flight who reportedly described the object that hit the plane as “space debris.”
Whatever hit the plane, it was an enormously rare event and possibly the first time anything has collided with an aircraft at that altitude other than a projectile launched with that intended purpose. The plane diverted without incident to Salt Lake City where the approximately 130 passengers were put on another plane to finish the last half of the 90-minute flight. Apparently only one layer of the windshield was damaged, and there was no depressurization. The crew descended from 36,000 feet to 26,000 feet for the diversion, likely to ease the pressure differential on the remaining layers of windshield. Neither the airline nor FAA have commented.
A cool and very professional flight crew!
OMG! The FAA and Sen. Cruz better get ‘on’ this one …
I think they should require flight crews to wear helmets and face protection.
I don’t get how the pilots arm was injured by debris yet the windscreen held pressure?
More pics here: https://x.com/aviationbrk/status/1979660229072609428?t=ncvmD74cqpFLOqRIfCL09Q&s=19
thanks Elon! https://earthsky.org/human-world/1-to-2-starlink-satellites-falling-back-to-earth-each-day/
Starlinks are design to burn up, but not completely. https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-actually-dying-starlink-satellites-dont-always-fully-burn-up
Indeed. Starlink is proving much need communications to the underserved.
A balloon payload?
Yes. Around a thousand stations around the world launch weather balloons twice per day. The have a small sensor box hanging off them. It’s not unusual for pilots to see them in flight, so I highly doubt this is the first time one has been hit.
Not quite, there was an infamous example from the old RISKS digest of a plane at cruising altitude hitting a large fish. Can’t remember if it was a salmon or trout. Punctured the cockpit in front of the copilot, broke his leg, and came to rest in his seat frame.
I guess it was only a matter of time before we needed a new category of NOTAM-D for space debris …
The pilot’s arm looks like it’s already healing from playing too aggressively with a teething puppy. Probably a good thing the object caught a piece of the frame or windshield penetration may have actually occurred.
Pilot error.
Pilots failure to see and avoid. Also, no record of Pilot checking NOTAMs for possible falling objects.
This is Skynet becoming self aware.
If only one layer of the windshield was broken and there was no depressurization, how did pieces of the weather balloon manage to injure the pilot?
In the pictures linked by PG Newman’s earlier post from X, shows shards of tempered glass all over the center consul. Looks like it came from the crazed internal layer of the windshield, albeit without the windshield actually getting punctured.
Those first few minutes after impact must have been interesting.
Thank goodness it was not a 249 gram drone. Everyone would be salivating to say “I told you it was only a matter of time”