Cracked Windshields in Denver
 

Anyone care to shed any light upon this? Any ideas?

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles...00010000000001

how does a window break sitting @ the gate? I would'nt think it would be the wind alone, perhaps f.o.d. flying around and crackin the windows. I wonder if there was any damage to the massive windows in the terminal?

I am in the Denver area right now, I was here last night, and this is the best I can give you.

1. The wind. The front range of Colorado gets wind like you wouldn't believe somewhat regularly, especially when a storm is moving in. It was somewhat windy in Boulder last night, but I can imagine sustained winds in the 40-50mph range out by DIA, with much higher gusts.

2. The cold. I have seen so many glass windows break here when it was cold outside. I remember a friend of mine knocking on a window during a cold 5 degree Fahrenheit night, and a slight knock broke the window open.

We had some light snow, but by light I mean 1-2 inches in about 30 minutes. Then it stopped. No ice pellets.

I really have no idea why this happened, but maybe some crazy effect from the wind/cold.

Ryane, if you're in DEN, then I won't tell you then what it's like at home today - a picture perfect day. :)

I understand about the wind and the cold, but like ABK said, how come the windows in the terminal don't break? I still don't get it. It can be pretty cold and windy at 35,000 feet too. How come the windshields don't break then?

Boeing used to have a caution to not turn on window heat if the windshield has a coating of snow. It creates a thermal blanket and will overheat and crack the window. This applied to systems that even have automatic cycling.

The cold at altitude is applied evenly by airflow...maybe the gusts applied uneven cold shocks to heated windshields?

Windshield heat is one of the factors that give windshields strength. Many planes have speed restrictions if the heat is inop. Why? Bird strikes. I don't have an explanation why those windshields broke, but if they were heated at the time I can't imagine it was just gusts, or gusts putting on more stress than birds. I once hit a Golden Eagle square on the windshield of a 727 at 250 Kts. The aluminum across the top of the window was pealed back and the shock broke every filament in every bulb on the panel. We had to relamp the gear lights before landing. The windshield never cracked or broke, they're pretty strong.

isn't there a story out there about a bird that went through a window of like a 2 or 37, hit the pilot and blinded him???

Broken Windows
 

Power surge was the answer given to me by MX. All planes that had cracked windshields were at the gate at the time and hooked up to ground power. DIA supposedly had a power surge, and certain aircraft were effected. I believe we lost five windshields total. United and Skywest last I heard was at about ten. Alaska lost one, because I took their passengers to SEA. This airport is cursed! :eek:

I wasn't suggesting the force of the wind would break the windows, I was suggesting uneven heat transfer which can warp or break anything if severe enough.

The power surge sounds more likely, an elevated voltage (over a period of time) could drive more current and over-heat the windshields. I'm surprised it didn't overheat other components too.