Comair CRJ Diverts b/c of Cracked Windshield
 

Airplane with 37 passengers diverts to Birmingham airport after windshield cracked
By Kent Faulk -- The Birmingham News

September 20, 2009, 9:25AM

An airplane carrying 37 passengers had to make an emergency landing at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport this morning after its windshield cracked, an airport spokeswoman said.

Pilots on the Comair CRJ called in an emergency at 8:50 a.m., said Toni Bast, manager of public relations and marketing at the airport. The plane landed safely at 9 a.m., she said.

The plane had been in route from Cincinnati to New Orleans when it diverted to the airport, Bast said. No information was available on how the aircraft's windshield had cracked, she said.

UPDATE: Christine Wever, a spokeswoman for Comair said that another plane was being flown to Birmingham to pick up passengers and take them on to their destination.

Wever said that the crack was on a side window on the first officer's side of the airplane's cockpit. She did not know how the crack occurred.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/09/...engers_di.html

isnt it always on the FO's side?

...................................

See, now this was a case of a crew doing a good job !! Well done.

seriously, that's how it is with us.

Perhaps they could have flown below 13,000 feet and still taken the passengers to their destination? I don't know what the flight manual says in this instance. I'm just arm chair quarterbacking the pilots.

God forbid it be on the CA side. We might have to land the plane!!!!!

is this how to get your posts up? i see this all to often

Better safe than sorry.

The CRJ QRH does not reference landing at the nearest suitable airport.






OO.

It depends on which pane delaminated. If it was the inner, you need to get on the ground as soon as possible b/c the structural integrity comes from that layer.

The other layers would be at the PIC's discretion on continuing the flight. I hear it sounds like a gunshot when they go....

I hope that I never hear that. I always think about that British pilot who got sucked out his window. Gives me the creeps.

It does... Makes ya jump right out of your damn skin...

It does indeed get your attention - I was flying from ORD to RDU in a 737 back in the day and the Capt/s side popped. I smelled the ozone and heard the arcing of the window heaters shorting (delamination caused a void space between electrodes) and it went opaque within seconds. It was Cat. II at destiation so we ended up flying all the way back to ORD to get a new plane.

I've never seen a Capt. get his seat position that low, and seat belt so tight as I did with that guy :)

At Comair it's PIC's discretion. We ask how bad it is and give our (Mx Control) opinion, but the divert decision is up to the Captain.

That's because the new windshield goes in the left side for xx hours, it is then removed and reinstalled in the right side while a new one goes in the left. :eek: side...


(Kidding)

That was BA 111, below is some narrative from the report. The Capt, who was blue upon landing, survived.


"The accident happened when the aircraft was climbing through 17,300 feet on departure from Birmingham International Airport en route for Malaga, Spain. The left windscreen, which had been replaced prior to the flight, was blown out under effects of the cabin pressure when it overcame the retention of the securing bolts,84 of which, out of a total of 90, were of smaller than specified diameter. The commander was sucked halfway out of the windscreen aperture and was restrained by cabin crew whilst the co-pilot flew the aircraft to a safe landing at Southampton Airport."

I actually listened to the situation on delta radio. From what it sounded like it seemed pretty bad. I might note that "if" a crack formed associated with window anti ice, that would imply that you can't go into icing conditions. The southeast has had every sort of weather the last couple of days and I'm sure that played into their decision.

So was it a windshield or was it really one of the side/dv windows? I don't remember any guidance whatsoever on cracks in the side windows on the ERJ but maybe it's there is some for the CRJ:confused:

FO's side window, center pain. Arplane ferried back to cvg later that day

Do you really think they'd have the fuel to fly 1/2 the flight at 13K or below........and stay legal?

They aren't carrying fuel in the back. They are carrying families. It is best to land and figure out what to do from the ground.

I was wondering how this happened. Taken the other night after it was pulled out.

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...513/window.jpg

The weather was pretty much crap everywhere that day, T-storms and rain throughout the whole country east of the Mississippi. Continuing with the cracked windshield would have required flying at 10k the rest of the way. With the wx (extensive diverting probably required, I know it was when we ferried the plane back that afternoon) and the reduced max altitude it would require more fuel than they likely brought. Not to mention a crappy ride for everyone on board. So what if they erred on the side of caution and diverted. Why did you feel the need to question their actions?

One thing it says is slow to 205 kts. Which makes it a two hour flight from the Nashville area to MSY. That's a long time to sit there wondering if the crackling sound coming from the glass is getting louder, or if it's just your imagination.

As far as armchair quarterbacking, we have...

Loss of life.... nope
Serious Injuries... nope
Hull loss... nope
Additional airframe damage... nope
CRJ at bottom of Lake Pontcairn... nope
Popped window shards raining down onto daycare playground... nope
Lost Jeppesen charts littering Tennessee/Mississippi countryside... nope
Messed shorts... maybe (x2)
37 Inconvenienced passengers Twittering everyone about their exciting day... yes

I don't think they made a bad decision. Kudos to the crew.

I did this at 410 in a CRJ-700. Captains side window core ply if I remember correctly. It sounded like a very loud pop. Our procedure at ASA called from reducing the deferential pressure to below 6.2, but did not call for any speed reduction until below 8000. We descended to the upper 20’s and raised the landing elevation to about 5000 so the cabin would stay around that to reduce the deferential pressure. We are able to continue to ATL (about 200 miles) with no problems.
I’m not trying to say this crew should have done anything differently. They didn’t get anyone hurt so there’s no way to say they did anything wrong. I’m just sharing my story.

205 only applies below 8000' for birdstrike reasons.

I'm not faulting the crew. Seriously I'm not. They did a good job. I was just curious if there was a reasonable way to continue, and based on the pictures and information from others, probably not.

For the person who asked what would cause this, it was likely caused by a windshield anti-ice / heat failure. Looks like one ply within the different layers cracked.

It doesn't matter if it was a good decision or not, 'cause the F.O. (fem) is a hottie!

Good to know the why. Ours (Comair's) doesn't say why, it just says to initiate descent (if required), maintain 205kts below 8000', set landing elevation when below 8000', END OF PROCEDURE.

The way I read the QRH, it suggests you should descend to 8000'. This isn't the only place the QRH is poorly written. I guess that's why we have a radio to call dispatch?

The point is, don't do this:

YouTube - Emergency Landing - King Air

CHI07LA063

The "why" is in the engineering directive for the ferry flight....the directive also limits you to 10k and unpressurized flight. Then again you'll never see that unless you are ferrying it.

The "OH" QRH is pretty vague on the whole cracked windshield thing.