Pilots flying a packed Icelandair flight had to make an emergency landing north of Quebec city Friday night after a cockpit window smashed in mid-air.
Flight FI688 was travelling from Orlando, Fla., to Reykjavík in Iceland when pilots noticed a crack in one of the windows. The plane was flying over Canada at the time, so “following standard procedures, they diverted to a nearby airport,” an Icelandair official said on Twitter.
The pilots landed the plane safely in Bagotville, which is more than 200 kilometres north of Quebec City.
Harrison Hove, a reporter from Florida, said he was onboard the flight at the time and took to Twitter to document the madness.
“OMG cockpit window shattered in plane. Rapid descent on IcelandAir flight F1688 Orlando MCO to KEF. Emergency crews responding. Passengers are SAFE from what I can tell. I’m in the main cabin,” he tweeted.
Hove tweeted the captain said his left window shattered and the pilot had to bring the plane down “rapidly.”
Once they landed, Hove said an Icelandair mechanic said the crack in the window was “significant,” spanning around 20 centimetres.
Canadian border patrol officers then came onboard and checked everyone’s passports, according to Hove. The 155 passengers and seven crew members were taken to a hotel for rest and another aircraft is expected to pick them up Saturday.