TOKYO: A domestic flight of Japan’s All Nippon Airways returned to its departure airport on Saturday after a crack was found on the cockpit window of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft midair, a spokesperson for the airline said.

Flight 1182 was en route to Toyama airport but headed back to the Sapporo-New Chitose airport after the crack was found on the outermost of four layers of windows surrounding the cockpit, the spokesperson said, adding there were no injuries reported among the 59 passengers and six crew.

The aircraft was not one of Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 airplanes. These have been in the spotlight after a cabin panel broke off a new Alaska Airlines jet in mid-air last week. “The crack was not something that affected the flight’s control or pressurisation,” the ANA spokesperson said. The US aviation regulator on Friday extended the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 9 airplanes indefinitely for new safety checks and announced it will tighten oversight of Boeing itself.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2024