Southwest Airlines jet diverts because of cracked window

Keldy Ortiz and Dave Sheingold, NorthJersey.com | USA TODAY

A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Newark Wednesday morning diverted to Cleveland because of a broken window, a passenger said.

"On my way to NJ for work and #Southwest957 gets a window crack," said Alejandro Aguina on Twitter. "Only outside crack so we're all safe."

The plane carried 73 passengers at the time of the landing, the airline said in a statement. There were no injuries reported.

Southwest in a statement said no emergency landing was requested. The plane was taken out of service "for maintenance review."

On my way to NJ for work and #Southwest957 gets a window crack. Only outside crack so we're all safe. On our way to NJ in new plane. Thanks to the @SouthwestAir crew and pilots for handling it professionally. pic.twitter.com/CB4s7SQtS3 — Alejandro Aguina (@Dro_AA) May 2, 2018

“The flight landed uneventfully in Cleveland. The aircraft has been taken out of service, and our local Cleveland Employees are working diligently to accommodate the 76 Customers on a new aircraft to Newark,” Southwest said in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

The twin-engine Boeing 737 took off from Chicago’s Midway International Airport at 9:53 a.m. ET Wednesday and rose to 33,000 feet over 20 minutes, according to Flightaware.com. At that point, flying over Lake Erie north of Ohio, it turned before gradually descending, and then landing at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport at 10:46 a.m. ET.

The timing of the latest incident could hardly be worse for Dallas-based Southwest, the nation's fourth-biggest airline. Airline executives said last week they have seen ticket sales slow since the April 17 engine failure than sent debris flying into a plane, breaking a window and killing a passenger, 43-year-old Jennifer Riordan of Albuquerque. Southwest estimates the drop in sales will cost it between $50 million and $100 million.

Robert Mann, an airline consultant and former American Airlines executive, said windows are periodically polished to remove crazing, the formation of tiny cracks in the acrylic windows from exposure to chemicals and the sun's rays. He said he couldn't recall a similar incident caused by crazing and that the pilots were right to make a quick landing.

FAA to order inspections of jet engines after Southwest blast The Federal Aviation Administration says within two weeks it plans to issue an order for airlines to inspect engines like those on a Southwest Airlines plane forced to land Tuesday due to an engine failure that left a passenger dead. (April 20)

The window on the flight that landed in Philadelphia blew out after being hit by a loose engine part and Riordan died of injuries suffered after she was partially sucked out.

After the Philadelphia emergency landing, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of more jet engines like the one that blew apart at 32,000 feet on that Boeing 737 jet heading from New York to Dallas. The National Transportation Safety Board believes one of the blades snapped on the Southwest flight, hurling debris that broke a window.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.