B737 flight crew reported the captain's side windshield cracked in flight.

Attributes
ACN	1618942
Time
Date	201902
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cockpit Window
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 126 Flight Crew Total 15000 Flight Crew Type 1572
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 221 Flight Crew Total 3240 Flight Crew Type 3240
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Narrative:

Just after top of climb upon reaching our [cruise] altitude of FL370 I heard a loud bang and a flash. When I looked up my forward window was completely shattered. We ran the QRH; called dispatch and [maintenance]. We decided our best option was to turn around and head back to ZZZ. After running the QRH; I handed the aircraft to my first officer and had him fly the remainder of the flight due to my limited visibility. We notified ATC and [advised them] and told the controllers we wanted to turn back to ZZZ; slow down and descend to 10;000 in case of loss of pressurization. I believe we were still with center.I briefed the flight attendants we had a mechanical situation and to prepare the cabin for landing and they had 25 minutes to touchdown and it would be a normal landing and we would be returning to a gate. I briefed the passengers and asked for [their patience] and cooperation to get the cabin ready. When ATC handed [us] off [to] approach we told them we need xxl for landing; since our gate was located on the north side of the airport. I did not want to taxi across the airport with limited visibility.despite [being] an emergency aircraft approach was not helpful. They wanted us to land on runway xy; which we replied that was not an option. They want to know why [we] couldn't accept xy and we told them operational. We landed on xxl; taxied to the gate without any further problems. The flight attendants did a great job.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported the Captain's side windshield cracked in flight.

Narrative: Just after top of climb upon reaching our [cruise] altitude of FL370 I heard a loud bang and a flash. When I looked up my forward window was completely shattered. We ran the QRH; called Dispatch and [Maintenance]. We decided our best option was to turn around and head back to ZZZ. After running the QRH; I handed the aircraft to my First Officer and had him fly the remainder of the flight due to my limited visibility. We notified ATC and [advised them] and told the controllers we wanted to turn back to ZZZ; slow down and descend to 10;000 in case of loss of pressurization. I believe we were still with Center.I briefed the flight attendants we had a mechanical situation and to prepare the cabin for landing and they had 25 minutes to touchdown and it would be a normal landing and we would be returning to a gate. I briefed the passengers and asked for [their patience] and cooperation to get the cabin ready. When ATC handed [us] off [to] Approach we told them we need XXL for landing; since our gate was located on the north side of the airport. I did not want to taxi across the airport with limited visibility.Despite [being] an emergency aircraft Approach was NOT helpful. They wanted us to land on Runway XY; which we replied that was not an option. They want to know why [we] couldn't accept XY and we told them operational. We landed on XXL; taxied to the gate without any further problems. The flight attendants did a great job.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.