Cracked windscreen forces flight to divert unexpectedly

A United Airlines flight has been forced to divert after a cracked windshield was discovered mid-flight.

The Boeing 737-800 jet was on its way to Washington DC but had to land in Denver, Colorado – 1600 miles from its destination.

The flight was travelling from Harry Reid International Airport in Nevada, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The United Airlines Flight 1627 diverted “due to a cracked windshield”, the agency said, and landed safely on Sunday lunchtime.

The plane was carrying 166 passengers and seven crew, a United Airlines spokesperson told Sky News.

The passengers were moved to another plane at Denver and continued their journey after a wait of about two hours.

The spokesperson said the flight was diverted due to a “maintenance issue”.

Boeing declined to comment and directed questions to the airline.

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The incident comes as Boeing faces scrutiny after a panel on one of its planes blew out in mid-air last month.

Nobody was seriously injured on the Alaska Airlines flight, but the FAA grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes and launched a safety investigation.

While the FAA went on to overturn the grounding of the aircraft, it banned Boeing from expanding production of all its best-selling 737 MAX model variants.

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