A piece of 'space junk' hits a Boeing 737 in mid-flight and slightly injures the pilot

A piece of ‘space junk’ hits a Boeing 737 in mid-flight and slightly injures the pilot

The National Transportation Safety Board The United States NTSB has confirmed that it is investigating the impact of an object on the windshield of a Boeing 737 MAX while flying about the state of Utah.

The event occurred on Thursday, during a flight United Airlines between Denver and Los Angeles. Images published on social networks show one of the plane’s two large front windows severely cracked. In others, it is appreciated a pilot’s arm with several cuts apparently caused by tiny fragments of glass from the affected window.

‘The NTSB collects data from radar, meteorology and flight recorders. The windshield will be sent to the NTSB laboratories for examination‘, the federal agency has indicated in X.

Flight captain says it was ‘space junk’

The incident has also gained notoriety due to the possible nature of the object that hit the plane’s cabin. The flight captain described it as ‘space junk’but if it was, it is something that has not been confirmed.

In the published images it can be seen that the object It collided forcefully with the upper right part of the windshield, also deforming the metal frame.. Since airplane windows are made of several layers with laminated material between them, the glass did not break completely. The plane was flying at about 11,000 meters altitude and the cabin maintained internal pressure. After impact, it descended to an altitude of 8,000 meters and then landed without incident at Salt Lake City International Airport, where it was diverted.

Cockpit of a Boeing 737 MAX.Funforme3.Wikipedia.

What could it be if it wasn’t space junk?

Beyond the pilot’s testimony, it cannot be determined if it was a piece of space debris without having more data. At least until the NTSB analyzes the damaged glass and metal and determines the nature of the object.

Another theoretical possibility is that it was a bird, but there is only one species that has been documented that can fly at 11,000 meters, the Rüppell’s vultureand lives in Africa.

It could also be a uncontrolled weather balloonalthough in this case its speed may not be sufficient to cause the damage observed. He hail He is another candidate for responsibility.

A more likely option than space debris is a meteoriteobjects that fall to Earth with much more regularity than that. According to a study published in the journal Geology, About 17,000 meteorites hit the planet’s surface every yearone figure at least ten times greater than that of space debris of human origin that survive atmospheric reentry.

In any case, It would not be the first time that a piece of space debris hits where it is least expected.. In March 2024, waste from the International Space Station He did it against a house in Florida. The object, made of an alloy of Inconel capable of withstanding extreme temperature conditions, it was the size of a soda can and it weighed 725 grams. It was the only thing or the little that was left of EP-9a charging platform with spent batteries that the ISS launched into space in March 2021, as later confirmed by the POT.

Although a person was in the home at the time of impact and the object It crossed its two floors and made a large hole in the ground, there were no victims..