Ice shatters plane windshield at 15,000 feet
There were some tense moments for passengers on a Seattle-bound flight late Friday when a chunk of ice slammed into their propeller plane at 15,000 feet.The impact shattered the plane's windshield, and for one passenger - her confidence.
"I was reading, and I heard a loud bang," says Andrea Keenan of Woodinville. "And then I started to get nervous because the windshield completely shattered."
Andrea was with her husband, on the way back from Portland along with four other passengers aboard the Seaport Airlines turbo prop plane.
She was in the second row - with a direct line of sight to the windshield and the pilot.
"I saw that the windshield was completely smashed and there was no visibility whatsoever out of his line of view," Andrea says. "I was extremely nervous. I have five kids, and I started crying."
An investigator inspects damage to the turbo prop plane's windshield after the plane landed at Boeing Field. The nervous moments were made worse when the pilot reached for an oxygen mask. Some passengers feared the worst was about to happen.At first Andrea thought the plane would make an emergency landing. But instead it lost altitude and then leveled out.
"I prayed a lot," says Andrea. "I was really afraid we were going to make an emergency landing. I was afraid for my life."
Once the plane landed, investigators used flashlights to try and figure out what cracked the aircraft's windshield.
The running theory: it was a chunk of ice at 15,000 feet that caused the impact.
Source: Ice shatters plane windshield at 15,000 feet
"I was reading, and I heard a loud bang," says Andrea Keenan of Woodinville. "And then I started to get nervous because the windshield completely shattered."
Andrea was with her husband, on the way back from Portland along with four other passengers aboard the Seaport Airlines turbo prop plane.
She was in the second row - with a direct line of sight to the windshield and the pilot.
"I saw that the windshield was completely smashed and there was no visibility whatsoever out of his line of view," Andrea says. "I was extremely nervous. I have five kids, and I started crying."
An investigator inspects damage to the turbo prop plane's windshield after the plane landed at Boeing Field. The nervous moments were made worse when the pilot reached for an oxygen mask. Some passengers feared the worst was about to happen.At first Andrea thought the plane would make an emergency landing. But instead it lost altitude and then leveled out.
"I prayed a lot," says Andrea. "I was really afraid we were going to make an emergency landing. I was afraid for my life."
Once the plane landed, investigators used flashlights to try and figure out what cracked the aircraft's windshield.
The running theory: it was a chunk of ice at 15,000 feet that caused the impact.
Source: Ice shatters plane windshield at 15,000 feet
