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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Josh Funk

A United Airlines emergency landing likely caused by collision with a weather balloon

Plane Hits Weather Balloon - (Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A United Airlines plane appears to have collided with a weather balloon while cruising over Utah at 36,000 feet last week, fracturing layers of its windshield and forcing an emergency landing.

A California company called Windborne Systems said it started looking into the situation Sunday, not long after the National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating. Windborne quickly concluded that the Boeing 737 Max very likely ran into one of its balloons, despite the company's best efforts to prevent such collisions.

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