Japan's largest airline said Saturday that a domestic flight returned to its departure airport after pilots discovered a crack in the cockpit window of the Boeing 737-800 while in mid-air.
An All Nippon Airways (ANA) spokesman said there were no injuries and all 59 passengers and six crew members on board the flight were safe.
The crack was discovered in the outermost of four layers of windows surrounding the cockpit, the spokesman said.
“The tear did not affect the control or pressure of the flight,” the spokesman added.
ANA Flight 1182 was en route to southern Toyama Airport but returned to northern Sapporo-New Chitose Airport after the discovery.
Airlines find loose parts in door panels on 737 MAX 9 aircraft
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Incident following the Boeing 737 Max 9 scare
The ANA aircraft was not one of Boeing's 737 MAX 9 aircraft, but rather a model of the related but much older 737-800 series. However, the US aerospace giant was under scrutiny after a fuselage panel blown off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines led to an emergency landing last week.
The U.S. aviation regulator said Friday it is extending the grounding of 737 MAX 9 planes indefinitely pending new safety reviews.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it would increase oversight of Boeing and review production of the 737 Max 9.
The 737 family of aircraft is Boeing's best-selling aircraft series, second only to Airbus' A320 rival in terms of total purchase orders for an airliner.
The FAA added that it would assess whether Boeing and its suppliers followed approved quality procedures.
The regulator said it would reconsider its long-standing practice of relying on aircraft manufacturer employees to conduct some aircraft safety analyses.
Members of Congress also criticized the practice of assigning Boeing employees as inspectors after two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 Max 8 planes in 2018 and 2019. This model was banned worldwide for more than a year – and even longer in many jurisdictions – before being re-approved for full flight clearance by the FAA in late 2020.
rm/msh (Portal, AP)