AA 37 (MAD-DFW) Diverted to LHR for cracked windshield 23 Mar 2019
Mar 23, 2019, 8:44 am
#1
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AA 37 (MAD-DFW) Diverted to LHR for cracked windshield 23 Mar 2019
A couple hours out of Madrid, the cockpit windshield appears to have developed a crack. Plane diverted to Heathrow, flying at 300 knots and 10k feet.
On ground at LHR now.
On ground at LHR now.
Mar 23, 2019, 10:09 am
#2
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Mar 23, 2019, 3:14 pm
#5
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Mar 23, 2019, 11:38 pm
#7
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How urgent of a situation is this? Meaning, is it ‘get on the ground immediately as the plane is in imminent danger’, or ‘find the nearest large oneworld hub to track down a spare part?’
After looking at the path, it seems like they could have diverted to Portugal or back to Madrid but instead flew a fairly significant distance up to London. Just wondering...
After looking at the path, it seems like they could have diverted to Portugal or back to Madrid but instead flew a fairly significant distance up to London. Just wondering...
Mar 24, 2019, 1:19 am
#8
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How urgent of a situation is this? Meaning, is it ‘get on the ground immediately as the plane is in imminent danger’, or ‘find the nearest large oneworld hub to track down a spare part?’
After looking at the path, it seems like they could have diverted to Portugal or back to Madrid but instead flew a fairly significant distance up to London. Just wondering...
After looking at the path, it seems like they could have diverted to Portugal or back to Madrid but instead flew a fairly significant distance up to London. Just wondering...
But tbh I would not like to be in the air for a long time at 10000 feet.
Mar 24, 2019, 4:33 am
#9
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The pilot did indeed announce it. We descended to 10000 ft and turned around at a slow 300 knots to land in LHR. It was much calmer than I would have ever thought...
Mar 24, 2019, 6:35 am
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How urgent of a situation is this? Meaning, is it ‘get on the ground immediately as the plane is in imminent danger’, or ‘find the nearest large oneworld hub to track down a spare part?’
After looking at the path, it seems like they could have diverted to Portugal or back to Madrid but instead flew a fairly significant distance up to London. Just wondering...
After looking at the path, it seems like they could have diverted to Portugal or back to Madrid but instead flew a fairly significant distance up to London. Just wondering...
Mar 24, 2019, 8:16 am
#11
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The announcement indicated that there was a crack in the cockpit windshield and they were losing pressure. I assumed it was a much smaller crack than what was actually present. The whole thing was pretty uneventful. The pilots seem to have handled the situation properly.
Mar 24, 2019, 10:06 am
#12
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How urgent of a situation is this? Meaning, is it ‘get on the ground immediately as the plane is in imminent danger’, or ‘find the nearest large oneworld hub to track down a spare part?’
After looking at the path, it seems like they could have diverted to Portugal or back to Madrid but instead flew a fairly significant distance up to London. Just wondering...
After looking at the path, it seems like they could have diverted to Portugal or back to Madrid but instead flew a fairly significant distance up to London. Just wondering...
Civil aviation requirements include supplemental oxygen on unpressurized aircraft above 10,000 feet. So, it appears the pilots descended and depressurized (normal pressurized cabin altitude for a 777 is ~8,000 feet MSL) and proceeded to a major airport where passengers could be rerouted and that had both engineers / mechanics and parts to address this.
Mar 24, 2019, 12:48 pm
#13
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To the glass itself,
Aviation glass (windshields in particular) are pretty thick and safety laminated so that the glass holds together even if there is a crack. Similar to the windshield on your car if you have ever seen the aftermath of debris striking it. And depending on where the crack was in the glass - imagine looking at the profile of a Big-Mac, many layers put together, same concept on this glass - it could "look" a lot worse than it actually is.
That said, descending to FL100 and a slow cruise on over to LHR eliminated most of the pressure differential between cabin and atmosphere, leaving just wind resistance as the main force on the comprised glass surface.
Aviation glass (windshields in particular) are pretty thick and safety laminated so that the glass holds together even if there is a crack. Similar to the windshield on your car if you have ever seen the aftermath of debris striking it. And depending on where the crack was in the glass - imagine looking at the profile of a Big-Mac, many layers put together, same concept on this glass - it could "look" a lot worse than it actually is.
That said, descending to FL100 and a slow cruise on over to LHR eliminated most of the pressure differential between cabin and atmosphere, leaving just wind resistance as the main force on the comprised glass surface.
Mar 24, 2019, 6:17 pm
#14
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