Boeing 737: Inner windshield on Alaska Airlines plane cracks while landing at Portland Airport - adding to long list of recent safety blunders

A windscreen on a Boeing 737 Alaska Airlines flight cracked during landing on Sunday night (17 March) in another huge safety worry for the firm and airline. The flight had been descending into Portland International Airport from Washington D.C. when it suffered a small crack on the inner windshield.

Pilots managed to safely land the aircraft which was carrying 159 passengers and six crew members. Alaska Airlines confirmed in a statement that the crack happened as the Boeing 737 aircraft was landing.

The airline said; "The crew followed their checklists and the aircraft continued safely to its destination as scheduled. Alaska Airlines' 737 fleet are outfitted with five-layer windscreens that have an outer pane, three inner layers and an inner pane.

"If an inner pane cracks, the other pane and layers can maintain cabin pressure." According to the company, the aircraft will be inspected and repaired by engineers on the ground.

It comes amid a spate of issues that have rocked the company recently. A United Airlines Boeing plane was grounded on Friday (15 March) after it was found to be missing a panel when the aircraft touched down in Medford Airport in Oregon. On Monday 11 March at least 50 people were injured after a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner plane suffered a "technical" problem mid-air. The aircraft experienced a “strong movement” that reportedly saw passengers suddenly thrown about the plane.

Boeing has been under intense scrutiny since 5 January when a door panel blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after take-off. A six-week audit into Boeing and its subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems has recently found “dozens” of quality control problems including dish soap and hotel key cards being used on parts of planes. The audit run by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) found that mechanics working for Spirit were observed using Dawn dish soap on a door seal in place of lubricant. The seal was then reportedly cleaned up with a “wet cheesecloth.” 

In another instance, Spirit mechanics were reportedly found using a hotel key card to check a door seal. Spirit AeroSystems built the door plug that blew out of the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane in January.

The incident grounded this fleet of Boeing aircraft but has now returned to service despite concerns. A former US congressman, Peter DeFazio, previously slammed Boeing for relying on “crappy stuff” from its subcontractor.