MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - A TAP Air Portugal flight from Miami to Europe faced a midair scare, compelling it to return to Miami International Airport after a cracked windshield was discovered.
Kathleen Leach, one of the passengers, shared her experience, emphasizing the calm demeanor of the flight crew during the incident, Thursday night.
“We made it almost, I think, to about Bermuda, and then they notified us that they were going to have to turn around and bring us back to Miami,” she said.
Flight 224 was en route to Lisbon when, officials said, a crack was found in the windshield of the plane.
“I kept an eye on the flight attendants. They were not stressed or anything. They were very calm and kept everyone calm, so that made me feel good,” said Leach.
Videos from 7SkyForce showed the cracked windshield in the cockpit. It returned to MIA around 11 p.m.
While the turnaround caused inconvenience for passengers, many expressed relief that the incident was not any worse.
“I’m glad they actually turned around, but I would have liked to not be up there for two hours and then turn around another two hours back,” said passenger Lily Yard.
Travelers had to deal with the headache of missing connecting flights.
“We’re from Sarasota, we’re going to Madeira, so we missed our connecting flight, and our whole itinerary got messed up, so it’s a little [frustrating],” she said.
For Robert Sidbck, his wife Sara and their pets, who were all moving to Portugal, it has also been a little frustrating.
“Not fun, I mean, especially for them,” Sidbck said. “They hate traveling, but it’s life.”
More than 200 passengers were rebooked on a subsequent flight that took off at 4:40 p.m. on Friday.
Passengers tried to make the best of a not-so-fun situation.
“Everyone’s in good spirits here, like, everyone’s been kind of joking about it, you know, like, ‘Hey, we made it,'” Sidbck said.
The flight is expected to arrive in Lisbon early Saturday morning.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.