What Hit United Flight 1093?

One thing hit a United Airways jet cruising excessive over Utah on Thursday, and nobody is aware of what it was.

United Flight 1093 departed Denver Worldwide Airport (DEN) certain for Los Angeles (LAX) on 16 October 2025, working a Boeing 737 MAX 8 registered N17327. The flight climbed uneventfully to FL360. Then, someplace about 180 nautical miles southeast of Salt Lake Metropolis, one thing slammed into the windshield with explosive drive.

The outer glass fractured. One of many pilots was injured. In photographs shared on-line, the captain appeared to have accidents in step with shattered glass: his forearm bloodied, shards of damaged glass strewn throughout the flight deck. Scorch marks appeared throughout the impacted part. No matter hit the plane left no particles, no residue, and no clear rationalization.

An Unprecedented Occasion

Whereas cockpit windshield cracks are usually not exceptional, they’re sometimes attributable to thermal stress, electrical arcing, or routine fatigue, not violent shattering and accidents at cruise altitude. The sheared rivets and burn marks have left investigators puzzled, and the web buzzing with theories and wild hypothesis.

The crew instantly descended to FL260 and diverted to Salt Lake Metropolis (SLC). Flight 1093 landed safely on Runway 16L roughly 50 minutes after the strike. There was no lack of pressurization. All 140 passengers and crew disembarked safely.

The Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) is investigating. The company confirmed on X that it’s “trying into an in-flight windshield failure with unknown trigger.” Till the evaluation is full, the aviation group is left to marvel: what precisely hit that airplane?

(Most likely) Not a Chook

Chook strikes at cruise altitude are extraordinarily uncommon. The sheared rivets recommend the affect concerned one thing stable and dense, not the gentle organic materials typical of fowl strikes. And there have been no feathers, blood, or tissue discovered.

At FL360, the jet was flying nicely above the vary of virtually all identified fowl species. The Rüppell’s vulture holds the world report for the best fowl flight at 37,100 ft, recorded throughout a 1973 collision with a jet engine over the Ivory Coast. However that species is native to Africa, not Utah. Whereas there have been a handful of stray sightings in North America, its presence right here can be extraordinary.

The following-highest avian flyers, just like the frequent crane, have been noticed at 33,000 ft, nonetheless under the place United 1093 was struck. In North America, the mallard duck holds the title of the continent’s highest-flying avian at simply over 21,000 ft. The very best recorded fowl strike within the US is 31,300 ft.

So whereas a fowl strike will not be inconceivable, it’s nearly definitely not the reason right here.

May It Have Been House Particles?

If not a fowl, then perhaps one thing from above. A micrometeorite? A fraction of orbital junk? Each are attainable, however each stretch likelihood to the breaking level.

A micrometeorite would sometimes be touring at tens of hundreds of miles per hour. At that velocity, it will have seemingly punched a gap by way of the fuselage, not simply cracked the windshield. House particles is one other chance, however the FAA estimates the chances of a chunk of orbital materials putting a industrial jetliner at about one in a trillion.

Nonetheless, a number of on-line stories declare the captain mentioned he caught a glimpse of one thing metallic simply earlier than affect. If that proves true, and if the investigation finds metallic residue inconsistent with plane supplies, this might mark the primary identified occasion of area particles putting a passenger airliner.

That might not solely be unprecedented in aviation historical past, however it will additionally add new urgency to the rising concern over the tens of hundreds of objects orbiting Earth. NASA at the moment tracks roughly 31,000 items of area particles bigger than 4 inches.

May It Have Come From Inside?

There’s one other chance: the harm may need come from contained in the windshield itself. Industrial airliner windshields are multilayered, constructed from a number of panes of glass and plastic laminate bonded along with embedded heating components. These heating techniques stop ice buildup at altitude however can often malfunction.

When that occurs, electrical arcing can depart scorch marks and sudden cracks. The sound of such an occasion is loud sufficient to startle crews, and flying shards can injure pilots. Nevertheless, one of these inner failure wouldn’t clarify the sheared rivets, or why the affect appeared to come back from the skin.

United’s Response

United issued a short assertion:

“On Thursday, United Flight 1093 landed safely in Salt Lake Metropolis to handle harm to its multilayered windshield. We organized for an additional plane to take prospects to Los Angeles later that day, and our upkeep workforce is working to return the plane to service.”

United Airways Assertion on Flight 1093

The airline referred additional inquiries to the NTSB. In the meantime, N17327 was ferried to Chicago/Rockford Worldwide Airport (RFD) for inspection and repairs.

Theories, Hypothesis, and the Unknown

Was it a rogue vulture wandering hundreds of miles from dwelling? A fleck of orbital junk reentering the environment? A meteorite fragment too small to vaporize however giant sufficient to do harm? Or one thing else totally? ::cue X-Recordsdata music::

No matter “it” was, it left scorch marks, shattered glass, an injured captain, and extra questions than solutions.

If this seems to be area particles, it will be a primary in aviation historical past and a sobering signal that the skies are rising extra crowded not simply with airplanes, however with fragments of our technological previous orbiting overhead.

Till the investigation concludes, one factor is definite: one thing hit a 737 MAX 8 flying excessive above Utah, and nobody is aware of what.

With the NTSB concerned, we’ll hold a watch out for updates and can be following the story of United Flight 1093 very intently.