A cracked windshield outer layer (in a Fokker 70/100) looks a lot worse than the checklist says. The noise when is breaks is also quite alarming. The checklist is as follows:
– Which layer is cracked?
Outer layer is cracked
– L(R) WINDOW HEAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OFF
– Speed below 10.000 ft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MAX 300 KT
– Avoid icing conditions.
– NB: Condensation may form on inside of windshield.
Inner or middle layer is cracked
– No restrictions during flight
– Consult MEL for possible dispatch restriction prior to next departure.
So when you hear a bang, see a totally opaque, smashed windshield with a brown boiling substance oozing across the remnants of the windscreen, you are inclined to do something rather than nothing. It's only when you have got the aircraft safely under control (after an emergency descent?) that the checklist comes out and then you find that what has just happened was a "non-event". I've had three. The first one got me.
PM