Investigation into the emergency landing of a Sichuan Airlines flight in China

An investigation into the emergency landing of a Sichuan Airlines flight has found the broken windshield, which caused the incident, was a factory original on the A319 plane with no previous indications of malfunction.

China's Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) said at a press conference on Tuesday that the windshield showed no signs of malfunction that required any maintenance prior to the incident on Monday. 

Further investigations are being carried out on the plane, which went into service in 2011, by CAAC with the assistance of a technical support team from Airbus. 

The cockpit windshield shattered on the A319 plane on Sichuan Airlines Flight 3U8633 shortly after it reached a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet en route from Chongqing to Lhasa. 

Co-pilot Xu Ruichen was pulled halfway out of the window, and the dashboard stopped working. 

Pilot Liu Chuanjian managed to divert the flight and bring the plane to an emergency landing in Chengdu. 

The co-pilot took a cut to the face and had a sprained wrist. Several other passengers and crew suffered minor injuries. All 128 people on board landed safely. 

CAAC lauded the crew's heroic handling of the incident, calling it appropriate and professional. 

On the internet, people have been calling the pilot China's Captain Sully, comparing Liu Chuanjian to Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the US Airways captain who successfully landed Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009, after it struck birds and lost all power on both engines upon taking off from New York City.