American Airlines flight 4435 from Chicago O’Hare to Washington National airport, an Eagle flight operated by Republic Airways, diverted to Columbus on Monday night with a cracked cockpit windshield.
The flight was scheduled to depart Chicago at 7:30 p.m. Chicago was an epicanter of air traffic control delays, and this flight didn’t take off until 9:26 p.m.
On the ground in Columbus the aircraft was taken out of service and passengers were moved to another airplane to complete their journey – finally taking off at 2:19 a.m. and arriving in D.C. after 3 a.m.
Breaking news: A cockpit window cracked mid-flight on an American Airlines plane bound for DC from Chicago tonight. We just landed safely in Columbus, Ohio, have deplaned and were told to prepare to board another flight.
The plane diverted just before we reached the West… https://t.co/n2W9KdBbQR pic.twitter.com/RHwQeNqOiO
— Ben Dennis Reports (@broadcastben_) November 11, 2025
Here is air traffic control audio declaring the emergency.
Pilot: Approach, Brickyard 4435, Mercury Aircraft, inbound descending 247, descending 14,000, restricted at 220 knots.
Air traffic control: Brickyard 4435, Columbus, I gotta give you vectors to get you down. Expect ILS runway 28L, X-rays on the 8, it’s fly heading 230, descend and maintain 6,000.
Pilot: Heading 230, descend 6,000, expect ILS 28L, Brickyard 4435.
Air traffic control: Brickyard 4435, you don’t require, do you want the trucks rolled or not?
Pilot: At this time, negative. Brickyard 4435.
Air traffic control: All right. But you are in emergency with all I have is an outer broken windshield.
Pilot: Yeah, the F-O side looks like a [unintelligible], like it popped or something. It’s just the outer paine is cracked. The inside paine is good. So just a precautionary diversion. Breach yard 4435.
Air traffic control: Brickyard 4435. Fuels on board and fuel on board.
Pilot: 80 souls and fuel 6500.
Air traffic control: Brickyard 4435. We’ve got 4435, roger. Expect ILS to a left altimeter 3010.
Pilot: We’ll expect it, 3010. Roger, 4435.
In a statement, American Airlines said that:
[T]he plane experienced a mechanical issue with the windscreen and landed safely in Columbus after being re-directed. The plane was taken out of service for inspection, and passengers boarded another flight.
The plane, a veteran of the US Airways regional fleet, has had multiple bird strikes and electrical odor incidents in the past.
Cockpit windows are laminated, multi‑ply structures with fail safe capability. After a single‑ply failure the window must still carry load long enough to complete the flight (with procedural mitigations like descent). That’s why crews can descend and divert without cabin depressurization when only one ply cracks. A great example was last month’s United flight that everyone thought was hit by space debris.
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