Japan’s largest airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), faced an incident on Saturday when a domestic flight, ANA Flight 1182, returned to its departure airport after pilots detected a crack in the Boeing 737-800 cockpit window. Fortunately, all 59 passengers and six crew members on board the flight remained unharmed.
According to an ANA spokesperson, the crack was located on the outermost layer of the four-layered windows encompassing the cockpit. Importantly, it was clarified that the discovered crack did not impact the flight’s control or pressurization systems, ensuring the safety of the aircraft during the incident.
The flight was en route to the southern Toyama airport but returned to the northern Sapporo-New Chitose airport after the cockpit window issue was identified. ANA emphasized that the aircraft involved was not part of Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 planes but belonged to the related yet older 737-800 series.
This incident follows recent scrutiny faced by Boeing after a fuselage panel detached from an Alaska Airlines-operated Boeing 737 MAX 9, leading to an emergency landing. In response, the US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), announced an indefinite grounding of 737 MAX 9 planes for additional safety checks.
As part of the extended oversight, the FAA disclosed plans to intensify scrutiny on Boeing and conduct audits on the production of 737 MAX 9s. The agency intended to reevaluate its reliance on manufacturer-employed personnel for certain safety analyses, signaling a potential shift in its approach to aircraft safety assessments.
The Boeing 737 series remains integral to the aerospace giant’s commercial success, ranking as its top-selling series globally. However, recurring safety concerns, such as those leading to the grounding of the 737 MAX 8 model in 2018, have prompted regulatory bodies to reevaluate safety procedures and industry practices.
This latest incident with ANA underscores the importance of continuous safety evaluations in aviation and the necessity for swift and transparent actions to address potential risks, ensuring the well-being of passengers and the reliability of commercial aircraft.
