A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 was forced to make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City after an unidentified object struck its cockpit windshield at 36,000 feet, injuring the pilot.

Flight 1093, en route from Denver to Los Angeles, experienced the incident approximately 37 minutes into the flight near Moab, Utah. The outer pane of the multilayered windshield was damaged, but the aircraft maintained pressurization and all flight controls functioned normally. The pilot sustained minor injuries from flying glass shards and was treated upon landing. All 134 passengers were unharmed and were later transferred to another aircraft to continue their journey.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the windshield failure. The damaged windshield has been sent to an NTSB laboratory for forensic analysis. Early images of the damage show scorch marks and what appear to be sheared rivets around the impact area, leading investigators to consider several possibilities including a collision with high-altitude debris, a micrometeorite, or a failure in the windshield’s electrical heating system. At 36,000 feet, the chances of a bird strike are virtually impossible, eliminating one of the most common causes of windshield damage at lower altitudes.

A California-based company that operates autonomous weather balloons said one of its balloons may have been in the same airspace as Flight 1093 and that it is cooperating fully with authorities. No official link has yet been confirmed.

The aircraft has been grounded for maintenance, and a replacement aircraft was deployed to complete the flight, arriving in Los Angeles about five and a half hours late. The original plane was later flown to a maintenance facility in Chicago Rockford Airport for further inspection.

The NTSB has not released a preliminary report yet but is expected to do so within weeks. (ILKHA)