An Icelandair flight made an emergency landing from 35,000 feet after a crack was discovered in one of the cockpit windows
- An Icelandair flight made an emergency landing on Friday night after "a crack" was discovered in one of the cockpit windows, according to multiple reports.
- Icelandair Flight 688 departed from Orlando International Airport at 7:12 p.m. Friday night, October 19, bound for Keflavik International Airport in Reykjavik, Iceland, but made an emergency landing in Bagotville, Canada.
- In a statement made on social media, Icelandair said, "pilots noticed a crack in one of the cockpit windows. Following standard procedures, they diverted to a nearby airport in Bagotville."
- Flight Aware data shows Flight 688 made a rapid descent of some 35,000 feet in 19 minutes as the plane made the emergency landing into Bagotville Airport.
An Icelandair flight made an emergency landing on Friday night after "a crack" was discovered in one of the cockpit windows, according to multiple reports.
According to Flight Aware, Icelandair Flight 688 departed from Orlando International Airport at 7:12 p.m. Friday night, October 19, bound for Keflavik International Airport in Reykjavik, Iceland.
But as multiple outlets have reported, as Flight 688 traveled over Canada en route to the capital of Iceland, pilots noticed one of the cockpit windows had "a crack." The flight was diverted to a nearby airport in Bagotville, Canada, where the flight completed an emergency landing at 10:20 p.m.
The Straits Times reported 155 passengers were on board the flight with seven crew members.
Icelandair did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
In a statement posted on one user's social media account, Icelandair said, "flight FI688 from Orlando to Iceland was on route over Canada when pilots noticed a crack in one of the cockpit windows. Following standard procedures, they diverted to a nearby airport in Bagotville."
In a separate statement to Spectrum News 13 Orlando, Icelandair said, "All passengers were taken to a hotel and a flight is scheduled tonight to carry them to the Reykjavik airport. Passengers whose final destination is not Reykajvik have been rebooked."
Flight Aware data shows Flight 688 made a rapid descent of some 35,000 feet in 19 minutes as the plane made the emergency landing into Bagotville Airport.
The Straits Times reports that one passenger onboard, Harrison Hove, a manager at WUFT News, tweeted that "Captain says his left window shattered and had to bring us down rapidly. We had to go down immediately," and that an airline employee estimated the crack to be "at 20 cm" (or 7.8 inches).
While still aboard Flight 688 on October 19, Hove also tweeted an update that said, "An icelandair mechanic sitting in front of me says the shatter was 'spectacular.' Prob meant significant? He was brought to cockpit and said the shattering was significant."
Tom Podolec Aviations, the Twitter account of a professional aviation photojournalist who handles realtime emergencies and flight alerts, tweeted photos of the cracked windshield that did indeed appear to be rather significant: