Passengers on a constitution flight from London Stansted Airport on October 6 had been in for a cold shock when windowpanes had been found lacking after takeoff, forcing the pilot to make an emergency touchdown.
In accordance with a report filed by the Air Accidents Investigation Department, Airbus A321 left the airport for a multi-day constitution with 9 passengers, six cabin crew, and three pilots. There was additionally an engineer and loadmaster onboard.
Nevertheless, earlier than the airplane reached most altitude, the passengers seen one thing was awry.
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“A number of passengers recalled that after takeoff the plane cabin appeared noisier and colder than they had been used to,” the report acknowledged. “[The loadmaster] seen the elevated cabin noise as he approached the overwing exits and his consideration was drawn to a cabin window on the left aspect of the plane. He noticed that the window seal was flapping within the airflow and the windowpane appeared to have slipped down.”
A protruded window that was lacking panels (Air Accidents Investigations Department)
The loadmaster stated the noise coming from the window was “loud sufficient to break your listening to” and knowledgeable the cabin crew and flight deck, who then determined to fly again all the way down to Stansted. The whole flight time was simply 36 minutes.
Upon touchdown and inspection, it was discovered that two windowpanes had been lacking, and a 3rd was dislodged.
The AAIB concluded that the home windows “sustained thermal harm and distortion” attributable to elevated temperatures. The airplane was additionally used for a filming occasion, which had the airplane’s lights operating for 4 to 5 and a half hours straight.
The broken home windows that had been investigated after touchdown (Air Accidents Investigations Department)
“A special degree of harm by the identical means may need resulted in additional critical penalties, particularly if window integrity was misplaced at increased differential stress,” the AIIB concluded.
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The company stated that it’s nonetheless investigating.
