NPR.com - 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 dated Nov. 4.
The aircraft departed from London's Stansted Airport on the morning of Oct. 4 carrying 11 crew members and nine passengers, all of whom are employees of the "tour company or the aircraft's operating company," the report states, without elaborating on the tour company.
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I see the ground crew DEI hires from North Africa have been working overtime at London's Stansted Airport.
ReplyDelete"...high-power lights..." indeed!
The outer pane is polycarbonate or acrylic and will actually shrink under enough heat. They’ll shrink enough that they get loose in the frame, then can fall out or be pulled out by airflow over the fuselage. Film set lights easily generate enough radiant heat to cause this if the lights were placed close enough to the windows. My guess is they had a set on the wing root. It’s actually a common problem on the left side of the Beech 1900 if the left engine is ran at idle and the prop is left in feather. I’ve fixed several… What’s disturbing is Joe Pilot or the ramp guys didn’t catch it during the walkarounds.
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