An All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing B737-800 aircraft was forced to turn around en route to Toyama Airport due to minor aircraft damage on Saturday. The plane landed safely in Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport with no reported injuries to the 65 passengers and crew on board.
On 13 January 2023, ANA’s Flight NH1182 took off from New Chitose Airport at 11:08am and was diverted back after a crack was found on the right cockpit window, landing at 12:10pm.
Reuters reported that the crack occurred on the outermost of four layers of windows while the B787-800 aircraft was in mid-air.
“The crack was not something that affected the flight’s control or pressurisation,” the ANA spokesperson told the media outlet.
The domestic flight from Sapporo to Toyama in Japan was diverted back to its origin airport around 40 minutes into the 1.5-hour service and performed a safe landing.
Boeing’s woes
While it might seem like another week, another airline safety issue, the ANA wide-body aircraft affected was not one of Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 jets.
The B787 MAX 9 aircraft hit the news when an Alaska Airlines plane experienced a cabin-panel blowout and made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon 10 days ago.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded Boeing’s 737 MAX 9 aircraft indefinitely while new safety checks are conducted after loose bolts were found on multiple United Airlines’ B787 MAX 9s.
Alaska Airlines has offered a ticket refund and USD$1,500 (AUD$2,200) in compensation to passengers affected by Flight 1282 on Friday 5 January.
Before the incident, ANA had advised of scheduled maintenance on 23-28 January 2024, affecting flight and seat reservations on its domestic summer flight schedule.
