ReportWire

United flight’s cockpit window may have been struck by weather balloon, company says

[ad_1]

Brand new research from WalletHub identifies the best airlines. The report compares the nine largest US airlines, plus two regional carriers based on safety, affordability, and delays in 2024. For overall best airline, Delta Airlines came in 3rd on the list but was considered the most reliable airline. SkyWest Airlines came in 2nd. That’s *** regional carrier serving Delta, American, United, and Alaska for shorter flights. Spirit Airlines came in first, scoring the highest for. Affordability and safety. March and April have seen an uptick in air travel, meaning security checkpoints will be busy. TSA data shows more than 17 million travelers passed through security checkpoints last week, an average of 2.5 million travelers *** day. To help plan your trip, the MyTSA app shows your average security wait times based on the time and day you plan to travel. For day of updates, you can track the status of your flight by downloading the app for your airline or using an app like Flighty. And remember, TSA will begin enforcing real ID on May 7th. So if you don’t have *** real ID yet or an acceptable alternative like *** passport, expect to run into problems at the airport. And even if you do have one, it’s *** good idea to get to the airport *** little early just in case of delays. Reporting in Washington, I’m Amy Lou.

A mysterious object that cracked a windshield on a United Airlines flight, injuring a pilot and forcing an emergency landing, may have been a weather balloon.WindBorne, a California start-up focused on advanced weather forecasting and atmospheric data collection, said in a statement Monday it believes one of its balloons likely hit the plane.United Flight 1093, a Boeing 737 traveling from Denver to Los Angeles, landed safely in Utah Thursday with 134 passengers and six crew members onboard, according to the airline.Air traffic control audio from LiveATC.net showed the pilots remained calm and declared an emergency as they diverted to land at Salt Lake City.The first officer in the cockpit was treated for minor injuries upon the plane’s landing, the Salt Lake City Fire Department said.Windborne said it is cooperating with the NTSB and FAA on their investigation.“We immediately rolled out changes to minimize time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet,” the company said. “These changes are already live with immediate effect. Additionally, we are further accelerating our plans to use live flight data to autonomously avoid planes, even if the planes are at a non-standard altitude. We are also actively working on new hardware designs to further reduce impact force magnitude and concentration.”The plane later flew to Rockford, Illinois, where United Airlines performs maintenance on its 737s, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.

A mysterious object that cracked a windshield on a United Airlines flight, injuring a pilot and forcing an emergency landing, may have been a weather balloon.

WindBorne, a California start-up focused on advanced weather forecasting and atmospheric data collection, said in a statement Monday it believes one of its balloons likely hit the plane.

United Flight 1093, a Boeing 737 traveling from Denver to Los Angeles, landed safely in Utah Thursday with 134 passengers and six crew members onboard, according to the airline.

Air traffic control audio from LiveATC.net showed the pilots remained calm and declared an emergency as they diverted to land at Salt Lake City.

The first officer in the cockpit was treated for minor injuries upon the plane’s landing, the Salt Lake City Fire Department said.

Windborne said it is cooperating with the NTSB and FAA on their investigation.

“We immediately rolled out changes to minimize time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet,” the company said. “These changes are already live with immediate effect. Additionally, we are further accelerating our plans to use live flight data to autonomously avoid planes, even if the planes are at a non-standard altitude. We are also actively working on new hardware designs to further reduce impact force magnitude and concentration.”

The plane later flew to Rockford, Illinois, where United Airlines performs maintenance on its 737s, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.

[ad_2]

Source link