Pilots operating Delta Air Lines Flight 760 from Salt Lake City to Washington Dulles were forced to bring their Boeing 757 down in Denver after the cockpit window shattered mid-flight.
The crew declared an emergency around 90 minutes into the flight due to a cracked windshield, landing safely at Denver International Airport ten minutes later. The cause of the crack is currently undetermined, though the FAA has stated that it will conduct an investigation.
Speaking to the New York Times, Melissa B. Long, a spokeswoman for Delta, confirmed that the plane had a “maintenance issue mid-flight” though did not state the cause of the crack. Long added:
“Out of an abundance of caution, the flight crew diverted into Denver and the plane landed routinely. Our team worked quickly to accommodate customers on a new plane, and we sincerely apologize for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans.”
Images of the cracked windshield have been posted on social media by passenger Kirk Knowlton, showing a heavily fractured screen. Within the tweet, Knowlton claimed that the crack “was spontaneous,” with the crew landing the jet safely shortly thereafter.
Details of the incident
According to FlightAware, Delta Air Lines Flight 760 departed from Salt Lake City at 10:08 local time. The 757-200 with 198 passengers onboard was set to land at Washington Dulles around 15:50 local time, though diverted to Denver Airport 90 minutes into the flight.
Speaking to KUTV, passenger Rachel Wright claimed that the crew asked passengers to remain calm during the diversion.
“They came on the loudspeaker saying that the windshield had shattered, and we were diverting to Denver in about…