WindBorne Systems has said that one of its high-altitude weather balloons was likely involved in the incident that damaged a United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
The aircraft, registered N17327, was operating flight UA1093 from Denver (DEN) to Los Angeles (LAX) on October 16, 2025, when it was struck by an unidentified object at an altitude of around 36,000 ft (10,900 m). The crew diverted to Salt Lake City (SLC), where the aircraft landed safely. One pilot sustained a minor arm injury, and passengers later continued their journey on a replacement aircraft.
Initial reports suggested the damage could have been caused by space debris or a meteorite, an unprecedented scenario that prompted an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
These are now everywhere so: pic.twitter.com/vBdotuYXae
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) October 19, 2025
WindBorne CEO: “Extremely concerning and unacceptable”
In a statement released on October 21, WindBorne said it began investigating the event after learning of a possible connection on the evening of October 19, and now believes the “foreign object debris” (FOD) was “likely a WindBorne balloon.”
WindBorne added that it was “grateful that to our knowledge there were no serious injuries and no loss of pressurization” as a result of the impact.
WindBorne cofounder and CEO John Dean said on X that telemetry data from the company’s balloon network suggested one of its vehicles likely intersected with United flight 1093’s path over Utah.
Yes, I think this was a WindBorne balloon. We learned about UA1093 and the potential that it was related to one of our balloons at 11pm PT on Sunday and immediately looked into it. At 6am PT, we sent our preliminary investigation to both NTSB and FAA, and are working with both of… https://t.co/TDtyt08fMe
— John Dean (@johndeanl) October 21, 2025
He said WindBorne immediately reviewed its data and contacted authorities: “We learned about UA1093 and the potential that it was related to one of our balloons at 11 p.m. PT on Sunday and immediately looked into it.”
Dean described the outcome as “extremely concerning and unacceptable,” citing visible spallation on the inside of the cockpit windshield that caused minor injury to a pilot. “The system is designed to not pose a risk to human life in the worst-case event of a collision, but I’m not okay with any incident resulting in injury,” he wrote.
Operational and design changes underway
WindBorne said it has conducted more than 4,000 launches and works in coordination with the FAA, filing NOTAMs for every balloon it deploys. Each balloon weighs 2.4 pounds (1.1 kg) at launch and becomes lighter during flight, in line with FAA Part 101 and ICAO weight limits designed to ensure safety at altitude.
Following the incident, the company said it had already rolled out software changes to minimize time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 ft, where most commercial aircraft cruise, and is accelerating plans to integrate live flight-data avoidance to automatically steer clear of aircraft even at non-standard altitudes.
Dean added that WindBorne is also developing new hardware designs to reduce impact force and concentration, while continuing to coordinate with both the FAA and NTSB.
The NTSB and FAA have not yet confirmed the cause of the incident. The United aircraft diverted to Salt Lake City (SLC) after the strike and landed safely. One pilot sustained a minor arm injury, and passengers were later transferred to a replacement aircraft.
