An Air Jamaica aircraft heading to New York had to make a quick return to Kingston yesterday after a crack was seen in the windshield.

The mid-morning flight had left Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport and was in Cuban air space when the crack was discovered on the windshield in front of the co-pilot.

"There was no emergency, nobody was at risk and the pilot safely returned to Kingston," Bruce Nobles, president and CEO of Air Jamaica, told The Gleaner.

"This is not unusual. It happened three times last year and I would suspect that this would not be the only aircraft (in the world) with a cracked windshield today," Nobles added.

The passengers who were on the ill-fated aircraft were scheduled to leave the island late yesterday when another plane was brought in from New York.

Up to yesterday afternoon, the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) had not received a formal report on the incident but officials there agreed with Air Jamaica that cracks in aircraft windshields were not unusual.

"You have an aircraft flying and it happens. It has happened to Air Jamaica and it has happened to all the other airlines. It is nothing that you should get scared about," Patrick Stern, deputy director general at the JCAA, told The Gleaner.

"There are things which occur which are just part and parcel of operating an aircraft," Stern added.

Investigations

He said the JCAA would investigate the incident after it receives a report from Air Jamaica.

"Our people will then follow through with investigations as to what might have caused it to happen and if it is something that merits tightening up in any area, we will act," said Stern.

Aircraft windshields are designed to withstand air pressure at 400 knots and survive hitting a bird without catastrophic failure.

According to an American aviation official, the two most likely causes of cracked windshields are the internal-heat system being misapplied or not heating uniformly or having a bird hit it at a high rate of speed in the air.

Most windshield cracks are discovered while the aircraft is on the ground.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com