Airborne planes' windshields crack in blustery cold
Join Date: Dec 2006
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FOD BLAMED FOR CRACKED WINDSHIELDS AT DIA
(http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#194571)
Although windborne debris was at first dismissed as a cause for the 14
cracked aircraft windshields last week at Denver International Airport
(http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news...target=_blank),
investigators now are saying FOD, or foreign-object debris, was indeed
to blame. Microscopic analysis showed fine particles caused pitting
that in turn caused cracking, NTSB investigator Jennifer Kaiser told
the Denver Post (http://origin.denverpost.com/news/ci_5318769). The
runways had been sanded during recent snowstorms, and it's suspected
that the winds, gusting up to 48 mph, drove the fine sand particles
into the windshields. The fractures affected six passenger jets as
they were taking off, seven on the airport surface, and one at 19,000
feet. The NTSB offered no explanation regarding that high-altitude
incident.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#194571
(http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#194571)
Although windborne debris was at first dismissed as a cause for the 14
cracked aircraft windshields last week at Denver International Airport
(http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news...target=_blank),
investigators now are saying FOD, or foreign-object debris, was indeed
to blame. Microscopic analysis showed fine particles caused pitting
that in turn caused cracking, NTSB investigator Jennifer Kaiser told
the Denver Post (http://origin.denverpost.com/news/ci_5318769). The
runways had been sanded during recent snowstorms, and it's suspected
that the winds, gusting up to 48 mph, drove the fine sand particles
into the windshields. The fractures affected six passenger jets as
they were taking off, seven on the airport surface, and one at 19,000
feet. The NTSB offered no explanation regarding that high-altitude
incident.
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#194571
Join Date: Jul 2006
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If blowing grit was actually the culprit is it not reasonable to assume that there could be some engine damage that is not immediately obvious. I certainly wouldnt like to think that I ingested sand.
I imagine the damage could manifest itself a little later during a critical moment.
I imagine the damage could manifest itself a little later during a critical moment.
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Crack-Pots
Does anybody really believe that a wind gusting to a maximum of 48 MPH could pit a windscreen sufficiently to make them crack - courtesy of some fine grit?
.
And do it on all four windscreens of the one parked jet (by artfully and deviously turning around corners)?
.
I've flown low-level through heavy desert sandstorms and arctic blizzards at 400+kts with nary a scratch on a heated windscreen.
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For the pressure concept, think "square of the indicated airspeed" folks.
.
This is all about heating from cold-soak and how you go about it.
.
And do it on all four windscreens of the one parked jet (by artfully and deviously turning around corners)?
.
I've flown low-level through heavy desert sandstorms and arctic blizzards at 400+kts with nary a scratch on a heated windscreen.
.
For the pressure concept, think "square of the indicated airspeed" folks.
.
This is all about heating from cold-soak and how you go about it.
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The only alternative explanation that I can think of, having read the others, is an unusually steep inversion. Any chance we can dig up a vertical temperature profile from somewhere?
Still doesn't explain the windsheets that cracked on the ground though.
Still doesn't explain the windsheets that cracked on the ground though.
