CLEVELAND (AP) - The Latest on a cracked window on a Southwest Airlines jet (all times local):
3:15 p.m.
Passengers are describing a relatively calm reaction to a cracked window on a Southwest Airlines plane that forced it to make an emergency landing in Cleveland.
That didn’t mean there wasn’t some anxiety.
Richard Foshee (FOE’-shee) sitting about five rows away and said his first concern was that it was a problem with the wing.
Foshee said when he realized it was the window, he thought it was “a little more manageable.”
Paul Upshaw of Chicago said he immediately thought back to the accident two weeks ago when an engine blew apart on a Southwest flight and pierced a window, killing a woman.
Upshaw said he was concerned the window might crack further.
He said passengers didn’t panic, but moved away from the window immediately.
___
2 p.m.
Passengers who were onboard a Southwest Airlines jet forced to make a landing when a window cracked say they heard a popping sound.
Those on the flight from Chicago to New Jersey told The Associated Press that passengers moved quickly away from the window after it cracked.
There were no reports of injuries after Flight 957 landed safely in Cleveland Wednesday.
A Southwest Airlines spokeswoman says the plane never lost cabin pressure and the pilots didn’t declare an emergency.
Passengers who were put another flight to Newark said after arriving in New Jersey that the crew handled the situation smoothly.
At least two of the passengers say that after the window damage they thought back to the deadly accident two weeks ago when an engine blew apart and broke a window on another Southwest flight, killing a woman.
___
1:30 p.m.
Aviation experts say the slightest defect or micro-crack in a plane window can cause cracks like the one that forced a Southwest Airlines jet to land in Cleveland.
A Southwest spokeswoman says Flight 957 traveling from Chicago to New Jersey never lost cabin pressure and that the pilots didn’t declare an emergency before landing Wednesday morning.
There were no reports of injuries.
Airline consultant Robert Mann says windows are periodically polished to remove the formation of tiny cracks in the acrylic windows from exposure to chemicals and the sun’s rays.
He says the pilots were right to make a quick landing.
Anthony Roman, a commercial pilot and flight instructor based in New York, says problems with windows should be detected during regular inspections and maintenance.
___
12:45 p.m.
A Southwest Airlines spokeswoman says a plane forced to land in Cleveland because of a cracked window never lost cabin pressure.
Spokeswoman Brandy King also says the pilots didn’t declare an emergency before landing Wednesday morning.
There were no reports of injuries after Flight 957 traveling from Chicago to New Jersey landed safely.
Southwest says there were no other mechanical problems with the plane that has been taken out of service.
The emergency landing comes two weeks after a Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after an engine exploded and a blew out a window in a deadly accident.
___
12 p.m.
A Southwest Airlines plane flying from Chicago to New Jersey has been forced to land in Cleveland after one of its windows cracked.
There were no reports of injuries after Flight 957 landed safely on Wednesday morning.
Dallas-based Southwest says that the plane diverted to Cleveland for a maintenance review after the issue on one of the multiple layers of window pane.
The emergency landing comes two weeks after a Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after an engine explosion and a blown out window.
A woman who was partly sucked out of that window was killed.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.