ORLANDO, Fla. – A passenger who said he was on board an Icelandair flight from Orlando to Reykjavik told News 6 on Friday night his plane was forced to land in Canada due to a problem in the cockpit.
Harrison Hove contacted News 6 from his seat on board Icelandair Flight 688 after it landed in Bagotville, Canada.
Officials from Icelandair have since confirmed that the flight was diverted. In a direct message from the Icelandair twitter account, officials said crew followed set procedures.
"Flight FI688 from Orlando to Iceland was on route over Canada when pilots noticed a crack in one of the cockpit windows," the message said. "Following standard procedures, they diverted to a nearby airport in Bagotville. The 155 passengers and 7 crew were taken to a hotel for rest and another aircraft will pick them up later [Saturday]."
According to flightaware.com, the plane was a Boeing 757-200 aircraft, and it landed at approximately 10:20 p.m.
Hove said the passengers experienced a rapid descent, and they didn't find out why they had landed prematurely until they were on the ground.
"(The pilot) didn't tell us what happened until we got on the ground," he said. "We landed, and there were emergency crews meeting the plane, and that’s when he got on and said we landed, we're safe. One of the cockpit windows was shattered."