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Flight Takes Off With Missing Window Panes

A flight departing from London Stansted Airport in the U.K. had to return after only 30 minutes in the air when a crew member observed damage to some of the cabin windows.

Upon landing back at Stansted, the crew discovered that two window panes were entirely missing, and two others were dislodged, as detailed in a recent incident report from the U.K.’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The aircraft had been used as a film set the day before the flight.

The incident took place on October 4, during the Airbus A321’s multi-day charter flight to Orlando International Airport with 11 crew members and nine passengers, all affiliated with the tour operator or aircraft operating company.

Shortly after takeoff, passengers noted that the cabin felt noisier and colder than usual. As the plane ascended to 10,000 feet and the seatbelt sign turned off, a crew member investigated the source of the noise. He observed a damaged window on the rear left side of the plane, where the window seal was flapping in the airflow, and the windowpane appeared to have slipped down, causing loud cabin noise.

The pilots, initially detecting no abnormalities, were informed by the crew member. The plane’s pressurization system functioned normally. The flight engineer and third pilot examined the damaged window and decided to return to Stansted Airport. The plane successfully landed without further incident, with a total flight time of 36 minutes.

Post-landing inspection revealed not just one but multiple damaged windows. The incident report disclosed that two window assemblies, each consisting of inner and outer panes with a rubber seal, were entirely missing. The remaining space was filled only with the scratch pane, a cosmetic plastic piece preventing passenger contact with the window panes. Another window had a dislodged inner pane and seal, while a fourth had the outer pane bulging out.

The report highlighted that the damage resulted from a filming event a day before the flight, during which high-powered lights illuminated the windows for several hours. The windows displayed signs of thermal damage and distortion due to elevated temperatures during the filming activity. The aircraft crew did not identify this damage before takeoff. Ongoing efforts with the aircraft manufacturer and operator aim to comprehend the lights’ properties and manage this risk in the future, according to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

Photo Credit: AAIB

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