A domestic flight of Japan’s All Nippon Airways had to return to its departure airport after a crack was found on the cockpit window of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft midair, according to a spokesperson for the airline. The flight was en route to Toyama airport but had to head back to Sapporo-New Chitose airport after the crack was found on the outermost of four layers of windows surrounding the cockpit. Despite this incident, there were no injuries reported among the 59 passengers and six crew on board.
It is worth noting that the aircraft was not one of Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 airplanes, which have been in the spotlight after a cabin panel broke off a new Alaska Airlines jet in mid-air. The ANA spokesperson reassured that “the crack was not something that affected the flight’s control or pressurization.”
In related news, the U.S. aviation regulator announced on Friday that it would extend the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 9 airplanes indefinitely for new safety checks and tighten oversight of Boeing itself.