A Southwest Airlines flight out of Albuquerque made an emergency landing Monday afternoon after a passenger said a window exploded in the cockpit. Flight 2665, which had been headed on its route before the diversion, landed safely in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
George Gonzales sent a photo showing the shattered cockpit window and said the pilots told passengers over the intercom that something had happened and they needed to make an emergency landing in Tulsa. Gonzales said nothing struck the aircraft and that the windshield began cracking before it exploded. “They mentioned you know nothing struck the aircraft, it was just the windshield started cracking, and then it just exploded, so credit to the pilots for landing the plane and getting us down safely,” he said.
Southwest said Flight 2665 diverted safely to Tulsa because of a windshield crack. The aircraft landed uneventfully, and customers were reaccommodated to Baltimore on another plane. The airline said the safety of customers and employees was its top priority.
The incident is the latest reminder of how quickly a routine flight can turn around once a cockpit problem appears, and why crews treat even a crack in the windshield as reason enough to stop the trip and get the aircraft on the ground.
