The windshield of a crowded Virgin Atlantic Boeing plane “shattered at 40,000 feet” while flying from Heathrow to San Francisco.
Photos show a dented center window pane with cracks in multiple areas, but the cause of the damage has left investigators scratching their heads.
The crack in the thick four-layer glass left the cabin crew terrified as the plane made its transatlantic journey.
The incident occurred three hours into the flight when the plane was flying between Greenland and Iceland and forced Virgin flight VS41 to make a U-turn and fly back to the UK on May 27.
Experts have said the plane’s altitude meant it could not have hit a bird and no other immediate course has been highlighted, but temperatures outside the plane were -50 degrees Celsius.
A broken front windscreen forced Virgin flight VS41 to make a U-turn and fly back to the UK on May 27 after cabin crew were left terrified by the broken glass (File Image)
Despite the huge crack, pilots tried to calm fears that the cabin had suffered some decompression and the airline apologized to passengers.
Upon their return to the UK, the travelers were offered accommodation and were able to fly to San Francisco the next day. Sun reported.
The terrifying crack is the latest problem to plague Boeing’s already troubled manufacturer.
Earlier this month, a passenger plane carrying 163 passengers and nine crew missed the end of a runway by just three meters after a software glitch allowed it to take off using very little power.
The TUI Boeing 737-800 was taking off from Bristol Airport’s 1.2-mile runway 9 towards Gran Canaria on March 4 when it had trouble taking off.
The 15-year-old plane finally managed to take off, but passed over the nearby A38 road in less than 100ft before heading towards the sunny island.
Last month, the tire on a Boeing plane exploded during a landing in Turkey, making it the third passenger plane built by the manufacturing giant to suffer a technical problem or crash in just two days.
Just days earlier, a Boeing 767 cargo plane operated by FedEx made an emergency landing at Istanbul airport after its front landing gear failed and Terrified passengers fled a burning Boeing 737-300 plane carrying 78 passengers after it skidded off the runway and caught fire during take-off in Senegal.
After the frightening and sometimes near-fatal incidents, travelers have taken to TikTok to say they will change their flights from Boeing planes and travel with anti-anxiety medication as the plane maker battles an ongoing safety crisis.
A TikToker posted a video of himself on board a Boeing flight at Heathrow Airport, with the caption “About to board a Boeing flight drunk, wish me luck.”
Meanwhile, one person tweeted: “I might miss my flight for the first time.” However, I don’t trip because it’s a Boeing. I might be dodging a bullet here.
A Virgin Atantics spokesperson said: “On 27 May 2024, our flight, VS41 from London Heathrow to San Francisco, returned to Heathrow due to damage to the outer layer of the cabin windscreen.
“At no point was the safety of the aircraft, our customers or our cabin crew compromised and the captain made the decision to return to Heathrow, where we had the spare parts and tools to fix the problem and avoid further impact. for our customers”. and our schedules.
‘We always worked well above industry safety standards and the aircraft was back in service within 24 hours of the event. We would like to apologize to the customers involved for the delay to their travels.’