United Express E175 returns to Houston after cockpit windshield breaks

A United Express flight bound for El Paso, Texas, turned back to Houston on September 27, 2026, after the first officer's windshield broke apart shortly after departure, according to Mesa Airlines, which operated the flight.

Glass entered the cockpit and the crew declared an emergency. The Embraer E175 levelled off at about 13,000 feet and landed back at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport roughly 35 minutes after departure, at around 13:00 local time. Seventy-two people were on board. Mesa said no one was injured and cabin pressure was not lost.

A pilot told air traffic control the glass had gone all the way through, not just cracked a single layer. The pilots said they had stopped climbing and were slowing the aircraft because pieces were falling around them.

The Houston Fire Department was sent to the scene and later reported the aircraft was safe. Passengers boarded a replacement aircraft to continue to El Paso, the airline said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it would look into the occurrence. The source notes several earlier cases of damaged airliner windshields, including an October 2025 event in which both pilots of a United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 were struck by glass at 36,000 feet over Utah. The captain's arm was cut, cabin pressure held, and the flight diverted to Salt Lake City, according to a preliminary NTSB report.