American Airlines passengers were left stuck in Boston after their flight was forced to land just 250 miles into its journey after a crack was discovered in the windshield.
The flight, which was on its way to Spain, was 250 miles from the coast of Massachusetts over the Atlantic Ocean when it was forced to divert.
Massachusetts State Police said flight 94, a Boeing 777, was less than two hours into the journey after taking off from New York City‘s JFK Airport at 7:28pm, when an Alert 2 emergency was declared due to a crack in the windshield in the cockpit.
An Alert 2 is declared when the flight is experiencing “major difficulties” or when a “difficult or crash landing may be expected”, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The flight landed safely at 10:14pm at Logan International Airport, according to the airline, who said in a statement that the diversion was down to a “maintenance issue”.
The aircraft was taken for an inspection by American Airlines crew. No one was hurt in the incident.
The airline said passengers will be taken to Madrid on a replacement jet on Thursday afternoon.
The carrier said in a statement: “The flight landed safely and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team. Customers will re-depart for [Madrid] tomorrow on a replacement aircraft. We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans and apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.”
In a separate statement on X, the airline said: “Safety is always at the top of our list! Delays are never an easy decision but sometimes are needed to ensure the safety of everyone on board.”
Following the emergency landing, passengers were told they would be put up in hotel rooms overnight and receive food vouchers, according to airline reps.
Some passengers were left frustrated, however. “How does a multi-millionaire company with so many resources not foresee this,” passenger Nico Moreno told WBZ after getting off the flight.
“The type of solution they give you is very minimal in terms of, you don’t make up for the money I lose when I miss my job. You don’t make up the time I lose for everything I have at home, all the situations, no? ”
Boeing has been under scrutiny since a door panel on a different kind of aircraft, a 737 Max 9, blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
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