GVA-SXF EasyJet Cracked Windshield
 

On August 15th the regularly scheduled GVA to SXF flight was diverted to ZHR due to a cracked windshield in the cockpit.

The aircraft (A320) was repaired in Zurich and the flight was resumed with an approx 23h delay...

I have a few questions regarding this incident if I may...

Easyjet in it's communication went to say that a cracked windshield was a relatively common incident. Is it really the case on the A320 (there was no foreign object involved, it happened at cruise altitude) ?

Diversion was decided when the flight was somewhere between BSL and FKT. What is the standard A320 procedure in such cases (notwithstanding that it's the skipper's decision anyway) ? Divert to next suitable airport ? Immediate landing ? I would venture to say that BSL might have been both closer and more convenient (being an EasyJet base). And continuing to destination would have not added more that 20, max 30 minutes to the flight time. Any idea why Zurich ?

What is the actual repair procedure in such case and more importantly who is actually authorized / equipped for this ? Is it a no brainer or something highly specialized ?

I have no particular details about this incident but I can comment on the abnormality itself, the cracked windshield.

I don't think that's a very "common" event statistically speaking but I guess the word "common" was used by easyJet corporate communication just to take the drama out of it.
Usually cracked windshields/windows are in the newspapers so just google it and count :E

A cracked windshield is not an urgency, not even one of our "LAND ASAP" abnormal procedures.

Very briefly, A windshield is made of a number of layers of toughened glass + others (polyurethane, PVB, heating film...).

When a crack occurs, a pilot is unable to determine which layer(s) has been affected, thus the seriousness of the situation.
Procedure in that case (A320,A330) is to make a precautionary descent to FL230 and to maintain a delta P of 5 PSI.

Depending on your route, a descent to FL230 can considerably reduce your options (fuel, obstacles...) and will affect your decision making.
Immediate landing is not necessarily required for a cracked windshield.

I won't be able to tell you why the crew elected to divert to ZRH, I am missing too many parameters for that.


You would be surprised that an A320 aircraft is actually dispatchable for ten flights with one of its external windshield ply cracked...

Hope it helped a bit.

Thanks - most interesting.

Out of curiosity what would be the fuel consumption delta between FL230 and say FL330, or, more to the point I guess, how much actual range would you loose if you have to fly at FL230 instead of FL330 ?

For any diversion from cruise altitude the closest aerodrome might not be the one to choose because you will glide 100 NM anyway. So an airport a hundered miles away with good maintainance facilities would be a very sensible option. Commercial considerations are secondary or even lower!

Good point.... now if you add an extra 100nm and get to destination it might be worth considering :)

Roughly, for an air distance of 500 NM (GVA-SXF) on an A319 at 72T, that would make a 400 kg difference maximum (+13%) on the burn-off between FL330 and FL230.

So fuel consideration would not be a big deal on such a short distance.

A cracked windshield isn't a big deal, though it's better to be safe than sorry to land at the nearest suitable airport (suitable being the keyword here).

There was a BA jet which lost it's windscreen 20 years ago (but safely landed at Southend). The captain had to be held by some FAs as he was sucked out of the window when the windshield blew out.

Like I said, better to be safe than sorry.

I'm surprised sleezyJet didn't charge their SLF extra money for two flights. The sooner that and Ryanair goes bankrupt, the happier I will be. What about the Ryanair/sleezyJet pilots? Well, they're not really pilots -- they're button pushers!

It landed at Southampton

Why? That would saturate the industry with hundreds if not thousands of pilots. Why would that make you happy?

If you say so.

Who do you fly for?

SW

Yes EZY and FR pilots are only button pushers with no aptitude or airmanship! I am glad you have cleared that one up you dunderhead!

And the BAC1-11 that you refer to actually diverted into Southampton, not Southend. But who am I to stand in the way of your factual observations? What's next? Real pilots only fly for legacy carriers? :rolleyes:

Southampton. Southend. What's the difference? About 300' of asphalt!

Trust me, if EZY and RY went bankrupt, the pilots better have a back up career. They will not find a career with any serious airline carrier.

By the way, I have a secure job, so a saturated market does not bother me one bit.

Normally I'd say "don't feed the troll", but you've got me on this one...

Aviophage, I fly for one of the aforementioned airlines and I have a very nice secure job, thanks. Couldn't be happier with the way things are going, in fact.

Do expand on this a bit, if you wouldn't mind? I'd be delighted to hear your theories, it'd really give me a good laugh.

If you re-read your post, what you're saying is that you're there with the captain hanging out of the window, FAs hanging on to his legs for dear life, depressurised cabin etc, and you're going to land because it's "better safe than sorry"? :D

The ability to know what you're talking about matters quite a bit if you're going to come on here and spout nonsense like you just have.

Hope your hangover clears up alright today.

Aviophage flies for Microsoft. He's a Troll Rating Instructor.

@ Aviophage,

From Wikipedia "Phage is the shortened form of bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria."

Did you chose your name to reflect the way you attempt to infect any serious discussion in aviation?

Your only accurate contribution to date has to been to a Q from Ralph themouth
“757/767 V-G Diagram?
________________________________________
Anyone have one?

Thanks in advance.”

Ans “Afraid not.

- Aviophage”

Please go back to your MS game and get some more practice hand flying with your joy stick.

Aviophage
 

I don't usually like to defend myself over the internet because when you argue with an idiot, those around you won't be able to tell who's actually the idiot. However, I feel that it is needed to defend myself on here to save my reputation.

Mr Sky Wave:
"Who do you fly for?"

I am not comfortable saying who I fly for (like most of us on here). All I can tell you is that it is a major and that I have been flying with them for 12 years this November.

Mr Zippy Monster:
"Do expand on this a bit"

All I am saying here is that EZY and RY pilots are nothing more than "gear up, autopilot on... minimums, autopilot off" pilots. They have actually forgotten how to fly a plane hands on and in the event of not being able to use the autopilot, they would be absolutely clueless.

I may have confused you with my earlier post (it's not too hard confusing an EZY/RY pilot, all I have to do is show them an aircraft load sheet). I stated that although a cracked windshield is much different to having no windshield at all, when your plane does suffer a crack in the windshield, it's best to land at the nearest suitable airport to be safe (because the crack could escalate and you don't want a depressurisation on your hands, trust me, you really don't).

Mr Shortfuel
Who do you fly for?

Please see above. I am a commercial airline pilot, have had my ATPL since 22 years old and have been flying at a major for just under 12 years. I originally started off at BMI (any BMI pilots here?)

Mr/s Rudderrudderrat:

"Aviophage" means "bird eater" in Greek, and it is a reference to my healthy diet with little red meat. In that thread, I was being very helpful by telling the original poster that I do not have those diagrams.

In my book Aviophage means arrogant ********! I've had an ATPL since I'm 22...I have flown in a major for 12 years...Chuck Yeager is my second cousin! I know your type. The guy who tries to reinvent the wheel whenever he flies. He knows better than training department, the manufacturer and every other pilot who has graced the skies.

EZY and FR pilots are only autopilot monkeys and all I need to do in order to confuse them is show them a loadsheet! You're a class one plank mate and I really pity those who share the flightdeck with you. You probably know very little about not a lot.

Now that the thread has been fully hijacked may resubmit my question about the windshield repair ? :*

Aviophage,


You are such a tw*t listening to.



Show us aircraft loadsheet!? Anytime anywhere- I used to do them manually 4-6 times a day for many years :E
Sounds like your company is old fashioned if you are still doing manual loadsheets.....!? What is wrong for an airline to join the world of modern technology and the pilots using the A/P of the aircraft :confused:
Because you are using an autopilot does not mean you cannot fly.

It is easy to put anything in your profile and it is easy to claim you have flown for x amount of years with so much x amount of experience . But if you truly are flying the A340 are you saying that you are hand flying the 340 from start to the end every time you go to work? I very much doubt it.


Don't forget that many pilots in EZY have flown for major-Legacy-regional airlines and different airforces before joining EZY.



You saving your reputation!? With stupid comments like these that you keep making on this forum will give you nothing but utter disrespect :mad:


The sooner you leave this forum the happier I will be. Now do us all a favour and FOXTROT OSCAR :ouch:

The repair itself is not such a big deal, all you need is the window itself, sealant, two trained mechanics, a hangar and enough time to take the old one out, remove the old sealant, put the new one in it's place (into the sticky sealant), let the stuff dry, do the paperwork and send the aircraft off. Keeps two people entertained for a normal shift. I would not want to do it in a dark and stormy night in the middle of nowhere under a tree!

@Hahn

Thanks for your input. So this could very well be done in any major airport such as FKT, BSL, SXF or ZHR and was probably not the main reason to divert to ZRH instead of any of the above ?

Think its a bit late for that, no one could recover from your 21 posts.