On a routine Thursday evening flight from Denver to Los Angeles, United Airlines passengers and crew found themselves thrust into a rare and alarming aviation emergency. At 36,000 feet over Utah, the Boeing 737 Max—flight UA1093—suddenly suffered a violent impact that fractured multiple layers of its windshield, sending shards of glass flying into the cockpit and forcing an emergency landing in Salt Lake City. All 134 passengers and six crew members landed safely, but the incident has sparked a far-reaching investigation and a flurry of questions about the intersection of commercial aviation and atmospheric science.
According to The Associated Press, the flight departed from Denver on the night of October 16, 2025. About halfway to Los Angeles, the pilots declared an emergency after the windshield cracked open midair. Though the cabin never lost pressure, the impact was strong enough to injure one of the pilots, who was later treated for minor wounds. Passengers were transferred to another plane and completed their journey later that day, while United’s maintenance team began repairs and a federal investigation got underway.
The initial mystery about what struck the plane at such a high altitude quickly narrowed after Windborne Systems, a California-based weather balloon company, began its own probe. By Sunday, October 19, just days after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced it was looking into the case, Windborne’s CEO John Dean had a strong suspicion. "I think this was a Windborne balloon," Dean told The Independent. "We learned about UA1093 and the potential that it was related to one of our balloons at 11 pm PT on Sunday and immediately looked into it. At 6 am PT, we sent our preliminary investigation to both NTSB and FAA, and are working with both of them to investigate further."
Windborne’s weather balloons are not your typical party decorations. Each one weighs just 2.4 pounds at launch—including a simple sand bag for ballast—but they carry sophisticated sensors to gather atmospheric data, part of the company’s ambitious mission to build a "planetary nervous system" for tracking climate change. The balloons are designed to comply with strict Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules, and Windborne coordinates every launch by filing notices and sharing live position updates with the FAA. To date, the company has launched more than 4,000 such balloons, all in the name of improving weather forecasts and advancing climate science.
Yet, even with these precautions, the collision with United flight 1093 appears to have been unavoidable. Dean expressed his deep concern in a statement on X, formerly Twitter: "I find this extremely concerning, and unacceptable in the case of a collision, regardless of what the official regulations are. It resulted in injury to a pilot, which I’m simply not okay with whatsoever." He added that the company’s data on the last known location and altitude of one of its balloons lined up closely with the flight path and timing of the incident. Windborne promptly forwarded all relevant data to the NTSB, which will ultimately determine the official cause.
Passengers aboard the flight described a tense and frightening scene. Heather Ramsey, who happened to be filming the sunrise from her window seat, told Fox 11 that she saw flight attendants spring into action. "One flight attendant raised her voice and told the other, 'Get back. Get to the back of the aircraft, stop service,'" Ramsey recalled. Moments later, an announcement came over the intercom: "We have some bad news. The aircraft has collided with an object." Ramsey said, "We were all holding our breath until the very end. You could definitely feel the tension on the entire aircraft."
Airplane windshields are built with multiple layers specifically to withstand impacts from debris, hail, or even birds. But the force of this collision was enough to cause what some observers described as "sandblasted" damage to the window frame—a clue that pointed investigators toward Windborne’s sand-ballasted balloon design. While the NTSB’s initial statement did not mention injuries, multiple sources, including The Independent and NDTV, confirmed that a pilot was treated for minor injuries after the event.
Windborne Systems has responded to the incident with a sense of urgency and responsibility. The company announced immediate changes to its balloon software to minimize the time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet—a common cruising altitude for commercial jets. "These changes are already live with immediate effect," a Windborne spokesperson told The Independent. "Additionally, we are further accelerating our plans to use live flight data to autonomously avoid planes, even if the planes are at a non-standard altitude. We are also actively working on new hardware designs to further reduce impact force magnitude and concentration."
Thousands of weather balloons are launched daily around the world, providing critical data for meteorologists and climate scientists. But as commercial air traffic continues to grow and research balloons become more sophisticated, the risk of such rare but dangerous encounters may increase. Windborne’s commitment to improving its systems—both in software and hardware—reflects an industry-wide recognition that more must be done to ensure skies remain safe for all.
The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing, and while a preliminary report is expected within weeks, the final, comprehensive findings may take more than a year to publish. Meanwhile, the FAA continues to work closely with Windborne and other balloon operators to reduce the risk of future incidents. According to The Associated Press, Windborne has already begun exploring new ballast designs to further reduce the potential for damage or injuries in the event of another collision.
For United Airlines, the incident is a reminder of the unpredictable hazards that can arise even in the most regulated environments. The airline has referred all questions to the NTSB and has focused on supporting its crew and passengers. For the broader aviation and atmospheric science communities, the emergency landing over Utah is a wake-up call—a vivid illustration of how even well-intentioned scientific tools can pose real-world risks when they share airspace with commercial jets.
As the investigation unfolds, one thing is clear: the dialogue between aviation authorities, airlines, and scientific organizations must continue to evolve. The quest to understand and protect our planet’s atmosphere is critical, but so too is the need to ensure that every passenger and crew member can travel the skies in safety. The lessons learned from flight UA1093 will likely shape both policy and technology for years to come.
