A United Express Embraer E175 returned to Houston on September 27, 2026, after the first officer’s windshield shattered shortly after takeoff, sending pieces of glass into the cockpit.
Mesa Airlines operated the flight to El Paso, Texas, with 72 people aboard. The crew declared an emergency and returned to Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), landing around 13:00 local time. No injuries were reported, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it would investigate.
“We’ll declare an emergency, sir. It looks like the glass busted completely through, it’s just not a layer,” a pilot told air traffic control.
The pilots told controllers they were stopping their climb and slowing down because glass was falling inside the cockpit.
United Flight UA6309 stopped climbing at about 13,000 feet and returned to IAH roughly 35 minutes after departure.
Mesa said the first officer’s windshield shattered but that the aircraft did not lose cabin pressure.
The Houston Fire Department responded and later declared the aircraft safe. Passengers transferred to a replacement aircraft to continue to El Paso, Mesa said.
Several other windshield-related incidents have occurred aboard airliners. Most recently, in October 2025, both pilots of a United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 were showered with glass after an object struck the first officer’s windshield at 36,000 feet over Utah. The captain suffered cuts to his arm, but cabin pressure remained stable and the flight diverted safely to Salt Lake City, according to the NTSB’s preliminary report.