12 mo. ago • 97%

Crew aboard a U.S.-bound plane discovered a missing window pane at 13,000 feet

wamu.org Crew aboard a U.S.-bound plane discovered a missing window pane at 13,000 feet

Passengers said the cabin seemed "noisier and colder than they were used to." That's when a crew member noticed a window seal flapping at the back of the aircraft.

A U.S.-bound plane took off from London last month with four damaged window panes, including two that were completely missing, according to U.K. air accident investigators.

No one was injured by the window malfunctions, which appear to have been caused by high-power lights used in a film shoot, the U.K.’s Air Accident Investigation Branch reported in a special bulletin published Nov. 4.

44 comments

How did high power lights even damage the windows so badly that they are literally missing?

47
- From the article
  
  "The lights, which were intended to give the illusion of a sunrise, were placed about 20 to 30 feet from the aircraft, shining on first the right, then the left side of the craft for over nine hours in total.
  
  A foam liner had melted away from at least one of the windows and several window panes appeared to have been warped by the thermal heat. "
  
  45
  
  I’m surprised by that, because I’m having a hard time picturing a setup that was all that much hotter than, say, sitting on the tarmac in Phoenix in the summer.
  
  27
  
  Am I missing something or is the term "thermal heat" just stupid? Are they trying to sound? Or is there some other meaning of heat that I'm unaware of and that would make sense in this context and therefore the description is needed?
  
  I'm genuinely confused...
  
  6
  
  Huh, to be honest, when i read this, it didn't connect with me how the lights made window panes disappear. were the window panes missing before the flight? It doesn't seem like the window panes fell on anyone or nearby property.
  
  5
- It's likely the crew was using fresnel lights which are bright and very hot. You can easily burn yourself or set fire to delicate objects after prolonged use. Not impossible to imagine a crew member moving the lights, leaving them on and highly focused to imitate a distant light source; like a magnifying glass under the sun.
  
  6
- In the article it says the frames were melted by heat from the lights.
  
  2
- I imagine the film crew took out the windows so that they could shine the lights into the plane.
  
  -1
  
  Yeah... what this styles as damage seems like just a failure to put them back afterwards. Yikes.
  
  2
Just FYI, I know English is hard, but "a" means one not two.

29
- They did discover a missing window pane. They discovered some more too but at least one. 😉
  
  15
- Here's the Instagram account for the article's author. I don't know if she's on lemmy so there's no guarantee she'll see your comment here.
  
  3
  
  The author doesn't write the headlines. Not that there's any need to track down the sub-editor to yell at them either.
  
  1
Why use an actual in-service aircraft and not a mock-up or a fuselage from a retired or otherwise out of service aircraft?

21
- It was probably more cost-effective.
  
  3
  
  Probably won’t be now that they’ll have to fix the aircraft.
  
  3
The missing windows weren’t discovered until the plane was climbing at an altitude of 13,000 feet, according to the AAIB report.

“Several passengers recalled that after takeoff the aircraft cabin seemed noisier and colder than they were used to,” investigators wrote. A crew member walked towards the back of the aircraft, where he spotted a window seal flapping on the left side of the aircraft.

Wait wouldn't there also be a lot more pressure that you would feel from the suction of the missing window or would that only be felt by people at the back of the plane?

11
- From the photo it looks like the inner window panes were still intact. That would be enough to keep the plane pressurised, I'm guessing. For a while at least.
  
  18
  
  Those windows are really thin plastic and are supported by the plastic trim and panels on the aircraft interior. They are highly unlikely to support much pressurization. Air would have escaped around them via under the panels and through panel seams.
  
  4
- Less pressure, pretty sure, and if the lowering was gradual enough, you might not feel it. Dunno for sure.
  
  7
  
  Cabin can’t be pressurized off the windows are open, silly.
  
  -9
- Not with the windows missing the whole time and at 13,000 feet.
  
  2
Maybe I missed this on reading (and rereading) the article, but do they mention the airline?

7
- A different article I read says Titan Airways / TCS World Travel
  
  8
Well that’s terrifying

5
- Not really. Most planes leak quite a bit anyway- they’re constantly running air compressors to keep it at about the equivalent pressure of 6,000-8,000 feet.
  
  At that point, it was merely mildly concerning. If the window had blown out mid-Atlantic that would have been terrifying- flying low enough to maintain pressure would expend too much fuel, etc. but they were only 10-15 minutes into the flight; so, no big deal.
  
  Also? At 20kft, yiu have about 30 minutes before you pass out. (Airlines typically have 10-15 minutes oxygen reserves, for a fully packed aircraft, more than enough time to dive down to breathable pressures. Even from the normal cruising altitudes of 30-40k ft)
  
  I’m surprised there wasn’t a flashy warning thing, though. At 14k-ish pressure altitude… the oxy masks should have dropped automatically
  
  7
  
  Not really.
  
  I would comfortably say that I would be at least slightly terrified if I were on that plane, regardless of how ultimately justified it would be. Nobody wants to hear that there is a problem or needing to turn back after takeoff.
  
  9
  
  I meant more that it was a surprise to the crew that two windows were missing. I’d expect something so obvious to show up on a pre flight check
  
  5
  
  Nothing you typed makes this situation seem less terrifying.
  
  2

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