Copyright Simple Flying
Passengers traveling on a domestic American Eagle service between Chicago and Washington, D.C had their journey rerouted to Columbus, Ohio, due to a mechanical issue that was identified with the aircraft's windscreen shortly after takeoff. The aircraft was able to land safely and was taken out of service to be reviewed and inspected by the airline's ground maintenance team. The flight, operating as AA4435 on Tuesday, November 10, had departed from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) almost two hours late, with an expected flight time of just over one hour to the nation's capital. Passengers displaced by the diversion were placed on a replacement aircraft and ferried to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). AA4435 Diverts To Columbus The American Eagle flight had a scheduled departure time from ORD at 19:30; however experienced delays on departure, leading to the airplane only departing the gate at 21:26. The flight had an initial scheduled arrival time into DCA for 22:41. The flight took off from Chicago in an easterly direction before heading southeast towards Washington D.C. After 44 minutes in the air, a windscreen crack had been identified by the flight crew, and the decision was made to divert to John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) out of an abundance of caution. AA4435 touched down at CMH one hour and 18 minutes after initial departure, and all passengers were disembarked into the airport terminal while a replacement flight was organised. Simple Flying reached out to American Airliness for comment, and immediately received this response from the airline's spokesperson: "American Airlines flight 4435, operated by Republic Airways, with service from Chicago (ORD) to Washington (DCA) experienced a mechanical issue with the windscreen and diverted to Columbus (CMH). The flight landed safely and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team. Customers departed for DCA on a replacement aircraft. Safety is the center of everything at American. We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans and apologize for the inconvenience this has caused." Passengers Kept In The Loop According to a report by DC News Now, passengers on board were informed of the diversion through an annoucement over the intercom, with the captain noting that they believed the aircraft was no longer airworthy. The aircraft, N127HQ, has remained on the apron at Columbus according to data from Flightradar24. The replacement flight departed from Columbus at 02:18 on the morning of Wednesday, November 11, with an arrival time into Washington National at 03:11. The aircraft operating this service was an Embraer E175, under registration N124HQ. When a windscreen crack is identified, pilots will usually assess the damage onboard to try to determine which layer of the windscreen is affected. If necessary, the aircraft may decrease to a lower altitude to reduce the cabin pressure. In some circumstances, the flight may be diverted to a nearby airport. Aircraft windscreens are designed with several layers to ensure that if one layer is cracked, the other layers can maintain the window's structural integrity. Republic Airways N127HQ History The aircraft at the centre of this mid-flight diversion was a 17-year-old Embraer E175LR. According to ch-aviation, the aircraft bears registration N127HQ, serial number 206. Developed and manufactured by Brazilian planemaker Embraer, the flight took its first test flights under registration PT-SCB. The airplane was subsequently delivered to Republic Airways on February 14, 2008. Since then, the airplane has been integral in operating scheduled commercial services on behalf of American Eagle / American Airlines. Configured across two classes, it can carry a total of 76 passengers, 12 in Domestic First (C), and 64 in Main Cabin (Y). It is powered by two General Electric GE CF34-8E engines.
