A transatlantic flight was forced to divert to Ireland when pilots noticed a crack in the cockpit windscreen while flying at 38,000ft.

Air Canada flight AC857 was flying from London Heathrow to Toronto when a crack in the side window was discovered mid-flight.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft had passed Ireland and was beginning its journey across the Atlantic when the decision was made to turn back and land in Dublin.

Data from flight tracking site Flight Radar 24 shows the plane making a sharp U-turn over the water before landing in the Irish capital.

A spokesperson for Air Canada told Dublin Live: "On November 23 2019, AC857, operated with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, from London Heathrow to Toronto, diverted to Dublin due to a cracked Captain's side window.

"There were 254 passengers onboard, who were put in hotels for the night. Another aircraft was dispatched to bring the customers home the next day and the original aircraft was repaired and has since returned to service."

It's not the first time a cockpit windscreen has cracked.

In May, a mid-air hailstorm shattered the windscreen of a plane as it was flying at 37,000 feet above China.

The China Southern Airlines Airbus A380 was flying from Guangzhou to Beijing when it was hit by freak weather.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cracked-cockpit-window-forces-plane-095055051.html