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United Airlines Flight 1093 was flying from Denver to Los Angeles when the captain reported hitting space debris at 36,000 feet, forcing a diversion to Salt Lake City. The Boeing 737, carrying 140 passengers, landed safely on Thursday following visible damage to the cockpit windshield and a minor injury to the pilot’s arm.
Photos shared online show cracks across the cockpit glass and small fragments scattered inside the flight deck. Aviation social media account JonNYC was the first to report the pilot’s theory that orbital debris was responsible.
“It Looked Like Space Debris,” Says Captain
The captain reportedly told ground crews that the impact appeared to be caused by space debris, which is defunct objects orbiting Earth, such as old satellites or rocket fragments. “It looked like space debris,” he said after the flight landed.
These objects can travel at tens of thousands of kilometres per hour and are known to threaten spacecraft and satellites. Experts often liken them to “pebbles hitting a car windshield” except at extreme speed and altitude.
Rare And Puzzling Possibility
While the photos clearly show physical damage, aviation analysts are treating the space debris explanation with caution. The Federal Aviation Administration has previously described the likelihood of human injury from falling space debris as less than one in a trillion.
Aviation commentator Gary Leff noted that the captain’s claim to have seen the object approach raises further doubts. At 36,000 feet, debris from orbit would appear as a dark, fast-moving blur, visible for only a split second before impact. “By the time it’s close enough to see, it would already hit,” Leff explained.
Investigation Underway As Passengers Reach Destination
The Boeing 737’s crew made a controlled descent and landed safely in Salt Lake City. Passengers were later flown to Los Angeles on a replacement aircraft.
Although no passengers were injured, investigators are examining what could have caused the sudden strike. Whether it truly was a piece of orbital debris or another type of airborne object remains uncertain.
For now, the incident stands as one of the strangest and rarest mid-air events in commercial aviation; a possible brush with the growing problem of junk in Earth’s orbit.
Published by Kerry Harrison
Kerry’s been writing professionally for over 14 years, after graduating with a First Class Honours Degree in Multimedia Journalism from Canterbury Christ Church University. She joined Orbital Today in 2022. She covers everything from UK launch updates to how the wider space ecosystem is evolving. She enjoys digging into the detail and explaining complex topics in a way that feels straightforward. Before writing about space, Kerry spent years working with cybersecurity companies. She’s written a lot about threat intelligence, data protection, and how cyber and space are increasingly overlapping, whether that's satellite security or national defence. With a strong background in tech writing, she’s used to making tricky, technical subjects more approachable. That mix of innovation, complexity, and real-world impact is what keeps her interested in the space sector.
