SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Pilots on a Delta AirLines flight out of Salt Lake City for Washington, DC, made an emergency landing in Denver after their cockpit windshield shattered at more than 30,000 feet.
The crew repeatedly told the passengers to remain calm until they landed.
“They were on speakerphone saying the windshield was broken and we would be diverting to Denver in about 10 minutes,” Rachel Wright, one of the plane’s 198 passengers, told KUTV.
A photo of the windshield taken by a passenger shows crack glass that did not fall out of its frame. Commercial airline pilots said passenger plane windshields can be 2 inches, about 5 centimeters thick, with several layered panes of glass, the station reported.
The crew announced the diversion about 90 minutes after the plane reached cruising altitude, which is above 30,000 feet, passengers said.
“They kept saying everybody stay calm, stay calm, and we were calm, so they told us to stay calm while we were calm, it made us feel a little bit panicked,” Wright said.
Passengers were able to see the broken glass once they landed in Denver.
Passengers on a flight from San Juan to Orlando experienced moments of panic when they were about to take off in Puerto Rico, the testimony of one of the passengers only on Telemundo 31 news.
“I’m really good at playing ‘what if?’ And so my mind goes to what could have happened, worst case scenario, and I’m grateful,” Wright said. “It could have been really bad. It could have been very different.”
Another passenger, Kirk Knowlton, took a photo and tweeted that the crew had announced that the windshield shattered spontaneously.
Delta spokesman Anthony Black confirmed the “windshield crack” on Friday but said the cause had not been determined.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the flight crew diverted to Denver and the aircraft was routinely landed. Our team worked quickly to accommodate customers on a new aircraft and we sincerely apologize for the delay and inconvenience in their travel plans,” said a statement from the airline.
The passengers boarded a new plane in Denver and continued on to Washington. Wright praised Delta for getting the plane down safely and said the airline was very accommodating.
“I have never been more grateful to spend an extra three hours in an airport,” Wright said.