A United Airlines passenger spoke toFox 11, sharing her terrifying experience when a mysterious object pierced the plane’s windshield in mid-air, injuring the pilot.
Incident Occurred on Oct. 16
On Oct. 16, United Flight 1093, traveling from Denver to Los Angeles, was forced to make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City after an unidentified object collided with the aircraft’s windshield, shattering the glass and injuring one of the pilots. Passenger Heather Ramsey happened to be recording the sunset on her phone when she saw the flight attendants race to the cockpit.
“One flight attendant raised her voice and told the other, ‘Get back. Get to the back of the aircraft, stop service,’” Ramsey recalled. Moments later, an announcement was made over the in-flight system advising passengers that “we have some bad news. The aircraft has collided with an object.” As the plane made a rapid 10,000-foot descent, all Ramsey could think of was how the plane “could go down at any time.”
‘We Were All Holding Our Breath’
“We were all holding our breath until the very end,” she said. “You could definitely feel the tension on the entire aircraft.”
At the time the object struck the aircraft, the plane was traveling at an altitude of 36,000 feet, which is over six miles. Officials are still investigating the incident, but have yet to determine what the mystery object was. The impact was so significant that it shattered a layer of windshield glass, scattering shards throughout the cockpit and slicing the arms of one pilot.
Investigation Is Still Underway
“That seems a little high for a bird. People are saying scrap metal, it could be space debris, [or maybe] drones?” Ramsey hypothesized. But despite the enduring mystery, Ramsey credited both pilots and the crew for “keeping [their] composure” during the frightening episode.
The incident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The plane, meanwhile, is being attended to by maintenance crews who are “address[ing] damage to its multilayered windshield,” according to a statement from United Airlines.
