Cracked window forces plane to make emergency landing at Ben Gurion

A passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Ben Gurion Airport on Saturday night after the pilots found a crack in a cockpit window.

Dozens of emergency service units streamed to the airport as a precaution but the plane landed safely. Police later said the incident showed the inherent danger of anti-government demonstrators blocking access routes to Ben Gurion Airport as a form of protest.

The plane, United Airlines flight UA91 heading out of Ben Gurion for Newark in the United States, had 339 people on board when roughly half an hour into the flight the pilots reported their concerns about the window and asked to turn back.

Airport authorities declared an emergency situation and dozens of ambulances along with firefighters, police, and emergency services were summoned to the airfield. Units were pulled from across the area and as far afield as Jerusalem.

As a precaution and to enable the landing, the plane spent time burning off fuel over the Mediterranean Sea before coming in to land safely.

A passenger on the flight identified only as Andy told Channel 13 that the pilot informed passengers there was a problem and the plane needed to head back.

“We circled in the air for about half an hour to unload fuel, then we returned back to the airport,” he said. “We were told a little bit of information while we were in the air, and when we landed we were told what exactly happened with the window.

“The most stressful part was seeing the ambulances and mobile units waiting outside after landing,” Andy added. “The crew and pilots were amazing, glad we landed safely.”

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— אלרם שרעבי (@Elramsharabi) July 2, 2023

Demonstrators have vowed to snarl access to the airport on Monday, an action they have taken in the past as they protest against the government’s drastic overhaul of the judiciary.

Israel Police Central District Commander Avi Biton raised the issue during a meeting of senior officers on Sunday, saying the plane’s emergency landing was “a warning light.”

“Israel Police considers the right to protest a cornerstone of a democratic country, and therefore we allow every citizen to exercise his basic right to demonstrate,” he said, but he stressed the need to keep the airport roads open.

Biton called on protest organizers “to show responsibility so that a disaster does not happen that we will regret” and said that while police will allow rallies to be held, they will not allow roads to be blocked or any attempt to disrupt traffic around the airport.

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Acting director general of the Israel Airport Authority Amnon Cohen said the emergency landing showed the importance of leaving a clear access route to Ben Gurion.

“Last night we saw to what extent the airport is a place with a very high operational sensitivity that directly concerns human life,” he said in a statement. “It can turn in seconds into a place where an emergency procedure is activated where the lives of hundreds of people depend on it.”

Protest leaders shrugged off the pleas and said in a statement they intended to go ahead with their blockade of the airport.

“It is sad to see the political takeover of the airport authority as well,” organizers said. “The citizens of the country have the right to protest anywhere against the dictatorship and that is exactly what will happen tomorrow: a democratic, nonviolent protest that will stop the dictatorial intentions of the Israeli government.”