American Eagle Makes Emergency Landing After Windshield Breaks Mid-Flight

A passenger jet was forced to make an emergency landing after its windshield cracked during a flight.

Severe cracks can affect air pressure within the cabin, so fire crews and paramedics were waiting for the plane as it landed at 3:54 p.m. on Monday, April 18.

The American Airlines flight 3130, with 54 passengers plus crew on board, had left Phoenix, Arizona, bound for Humboldt County, California. It was flying over the Golden State when pilots reported the fissure in the glass as they approached the skies above Mono Lake.

The pilots were forced to divert to the nearest airport, Fresno-Yosemite International (FYI), in order to make a speedy, but controlled descent.

Local news channel ABC30 showed the plane once it had safely come to a halt on the ground, and although the close-up footage was a little unclear, it seemed to show a white patch of damage on one of the front windows.

A spokesman for Fresno Fire told Newsweek that a number of fire crews were dispatched to the scene, "including 2 engines, 1 ladder truck, 2 aircraft crash rigs, 1 battalion chief, and 1 safety officer." He said they were stationed "in strategic locations around the airport runways."

He added: "Advanced life support ambulances from American Ambulance and members of the local Air National Guard firefighting force were also staged. Members of our Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting specialty team remained in communication with the air traffic control tower while they waited for the plane to land. Once the plane landed safely, it taxied to its terminal and no emergency medical or rescue aid was requested. All emergency personnel were then released from the incident and the incident was closed at 4:04 pm."

No one was injured in the incident.

Local news website Lost Coast Outpost reported that one of the passengers on the plane said there was no loss of cabin pressure, and that the emergency air pressure masks did not deploy by dropping down. But Heidi Walters, who was travelling with her husband Ken, texted the site: "It was odd when the plane began descending then made that sharp turn. Then they let us know about the cracked windshield. All very calm and undramatic. Good flight crew!"

ABC News Aviation Analyst John Nance said the pilots would have been taken aback when they saw the damaged windscreen, adding: "It's a moment that you won't forget because it's pretty startling, but what happens is only one of the panes of glass or plastic inside has become compromised."

The layered panes of the windshield are built to withstand damage and while passengers may become worried if they spot a crack in a plane window, the pilots and crew wouldn't have been overly concerned. He said: "A broken windshield does not sound good, but we know what it means and it's not a threat."

It remains unclear what caused the glass to crack.

Vikkie Calderon of Fresno-Yosemite International Airport told ABC30:
"Any time an aircraft has a maintenance issue in flight, as a precaution, the pilots will divert the aircraft to the closest airport so that the aircraft can be looked at."

Flight data from the aircraft tracking website Flight Aware, shows the sharp turn the plane made as it changed direction during its journey to make the unscheduled stop, 1 hour and 55 minutes after the plane had taken off.

Officials at FYI confirmed no other flights or operations were affected.

The airport has a maintenance area, so the aircraft was moved there to repair the broken windshield, while the AA 3130 passengers were boarded on a different flight to continue their journeys. The passengers landed safely in Humboldt County just after 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

American Eagle is the brand name for the U.S. regional branch of American Airlines, which has six regional airlines running short- and medium-haul flights.

SkyWest told Newsweek: "Cabin pressure was not affected on flight 3130. SkyWest flight 3130, operating as American Eagle from Phoenix, Arizona, to Arcata, California, landed safely in Fresno, California, after experiencing a cracked windshield. The flight later continued to Arcata on a different aircraft."

UPDATE 04/19/22 at 4:23 a.m. EDT: This article was updated to add more comments and context.

UPDATE 04/21/22 at 3:46 a.m. EDT: This article was updated to add a comment from Fresno Fire.