Southwest jet with window crack diverts; Business briefing; Facebook taps advisers for audits; Weinstein Co. goes to Dallas firm

Passengers on a Southwest Airlines plane first heard a loud pop and then scurried away when they saw a jagged crack in a window that forced the jet to land in Cleveland on Wednesday.

Some on board immediately thought back to just two weeks ago when a jet engine blew apart and broke a window in a deadly accident aboard another Southwest flight.

"It made you nervous because something like this just happened," said passenger Paul Upshaw of Chicago, who was about two seats from the window. "We didn't know if it was going to crack open."

There were no reports of injuries after Flight 957 heading from Chicago to New Jersey landed safely Wednesday after making an abrupt turn toward Cleveland while over Lake Erie, according to tracking data from FlightAware.com.

Some of the plane's 76 passengers said the crew quickly checked the window and handled the situation smoothly. "People just started scattering," Upshaw said. "We didn't panic."

Southwest said the plane was diverted to examine damage to one of the three layers in the window, but didn't immediately release details on how it was broken. Photos posted on social media showed one window with a large crack.

Facebook taps advisers for audits

Facebook has enlisted two outside advisers to examine how it treats underrepresented communities and whether it has a liberal bias.

Civil rights leader Laura Murphy will examine civil rights issues, along with law firm Relman, Dane & Colfax. Former Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, will examine concerns about a liberal bias.

The moves come as Facebook deals with a privacy scandal related to access of tens of millions of users' data by a consulting firm affiliated with President Donald Trump. CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress on the issue last month. Facebook also has faced criticisms over a deluge of fake news and Russian election interference.

Weinstein Co. goes to Dallas firm

A private equity firm emerged Tuesday as the winning bidder for the Weinstein Co., the studio forced into bankruptcy by the sexual misconduct scandal that brought down Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

The Weinstein Co. announced that no other bidder made a better offer than Dallas-based Lantern Capital, which made a "stalking-horse" bid last month to pay $310 million in cash for the Weinstein Co.'s assets. The emergence of another qualified bidder would have triggered an auction leading to higher sale price.

The sale is subject to approval by a Delaware bankruptcy court, which has set a hearing for next week.

THE BOTTOM LINE

26K That's the number of Transit vans from 2015 through 2017 that Ford added to an October recall, bringing the total to almost 100,000 in North America. The recall covers vans with a trailer tow computer module. Water can enter the module and cause corrosion. That can cause an electrical short and an increased fire risk even if the ignition is off. Ford knows of two fires in Canada. Dealers will add a fuse and a drain hole in the driver's door step well.

Credit: - From news services

Caption: Laura Murphy will assist Facebook's effort to explore how it treats underrepresented communities.

Cliff Owen/AP 2015