A PILOT was doused in blood after a mystery object smashed into his Boeing 737’s windshield at 36,000 feet – leaving the cockpit littered with glass.
The United Airlines captain was injured and forced to make a hasty emergency landing following the unexpected strike on Thursday.
Graphic images show the pilot’s blood-soaked arm battered and bruised by what appears to be shards of glass.
Sharp chunks of what seems to be the windshield can also be seen scattered across the dashboard and cockpit.
Meanwhile, other pictures of the jet appear to show the initial impact of the object on the plane.
And the aircraft’s windshield can be seen fractured into tiny pieces as a result of the violent contact.
The mysterious item collided with United Flight 1093 from Denver to Los Angeles.
The bloodied pilot was forced to land the jet in Salt Lake City.
Internet sleuths suspect the strike may have been the result of space debris – or even a meteor smashing into the aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration has previously estimated the probability of space debris causing serious injury to a commercial airline passenger at one-trillion-to-one.
Experts suggested the windshield may have been cracked an electrical malfunction.
But the clear scorch marks and the broken glass shards indicate the passenger jet was likely hit by something.
Although birds and pieces of hail are known to strike planes – these objects tend to collide with jets flying at lower altitudes.
But in this bizarre case, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was struck at cruising altitude.
United Airlines said: “On Thursday, United flight 1093 landed safely in Salt Lake City to address damage to its multilayered windshield.
“We arranged for another aircraft to take customers to Los Angeles later that day and our maintenance team is working to return the aircraft to service.”
Local media reported that the plane is still grounded in Salt Lake City.
Passengers were later re-booked on a replacement Boeing 737 MAX 9 to finish their journey to Los Angeles following a six-hour delay, according to reports.
In July, a Delta flight was diverted after a passenger reportedly brought a dangerous item onboard that caused a fire.
Screams rang out, smoke clouded the seats, and flight attendants rushed to grab an extinguisher after the mid-air blaze broke out, one flyer on the plane revealed.
Delta confirmed that Flight 1334, which was a Boeing 757 travelling from Atlanta, Georgia, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was diverted because of a battery fire.
The airline said that attendants “worked quickly” to extinguish the device belonging to a customer that had spontaneously combusted.
