A KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 787, carrying Belgian Queen Mathilde, made a priority landing in San José, Costa Rica, on February 9 due to a cracked windshield. The Queen was traveling for a humanitarian mission as Honorary President of UNICEF Belgium.
The flight KL759, operating from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to San José Juan Santamaria International Airport, had departed at 13:13 and landed safely at 16:56 local time, slightly ahead of schedule. KLM confirmed the incident stating, “Last Sunday, flight KL759 made a priority landing at San José due to a damaged windshield of unknown cause. The safety of passengers and crew was not compromised. All passengers for the return flight (KL760) have been rebooked to another flight.”
Royalty journalist Wim Dehandschutter noted that passengers were unaware of any issues during the flight. Despite the cracked windshield necessitating a priority landing, aircraft windshields are designed with multiple layers to maintain structural integrity.
The affected aircraft, PH-BDH, is a nine-year-old Boeing 787-9 with over 44,000 flight hours. The return flight was operated by another aircraft, PH-BVN, a ten-year-old Boeing 777-300ER. It remains unclear how long PH-BDH will be grounded.
Cracked windshields in aircraft are not uncommon and do not always lead to emergencies. These windshields consist of multiple layers capable of withstanding significant forces during flights.
Recently, similar incidents have occurred with other airlines such as Jet2 and All Nippon Airways (ANA), where flights were diverted or returned safely despite windshield cracks.
