Free Republic

A United Airlines airplane traveling from Denver to Los Angeles that made an emergency landing after its windshield cracked may have struck a weather balloon while at a cruising altitude of 36,000 feet over Utah. The flight safely made an emergency landing in Salt Lake City. A pilot reportedly sustained injuries from the incident. A Silicon Valley company called Windborne Systems, which operates long-duration weather balloons, said one of its devices may have struck the aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the incident. "The NTSB is investigating a cracked windscreen on a...

A SkyWest flight heading for Los Angeles turned around shortly after it took off after pilots feared someone was breaking into the cockpit. The plane’s system that allows the pilots and crew to communicate with each other malfunctioned, according to KABC-TV. That led flight crew members to pound on the cabin door to communicate with the pilots. The pilots feared that the pounding was an attempt by someone to force open the cockpit. Because they were unable to reach anyone in the crew due to the communications system glitch, they returned to Omaha, Nebraska, after covering only about 40 miles...

A flight bound for Los Angeles International Airport on Monday evening was diverted after a communication issue resulted in the pilots thinking people were trying to breach the cockpit, officials said. An American Airlines flight left from Eppley Airfield in Omaha around 4:40 p.m. and returned to the airport about 20 minutes later for an unknown reason, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that the plane was diverted because of an issue with the plane’s internal phone communication system. The pilot reportedly declared an emergency and turned around after he...