RJ FO comes close to having his face annihilated

[Clearblue]

RJ FO's face just fine deffinitaly not close to annihilation

Fixed

http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=d0882f08-7a5b-4555-9088-57e9e7cad0ca

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A U.S. Airways jet full of passengers made an emergency landing in Salt Lake City on Friday after the plane's windshield shattered to pieces.

A Canadian journalist was on board and took pictures of the plane's cockpit and windshield after it landed. One of the photos showed a relieved pilot giving the "thumbs-up" sign, with the shattered glass in front of him after landing.

The twin-engined regional jet was on a flight from Edmonton to Phoenix when the windshield suddenly shattered. Pilots immediately requested an emergency landing at Salt Lake International Airport late Friday morning.

No one was hurt, and passengers boarded other flights to continue on their journeys later in the day. The plane remained on the tarmac at Salt Lake International Airport for repairs late into Friday afternoon. There were 87 passengers and 3 crew members on board.

The cause of the broken windshield is under FAA investigation.

 

[ppragman]

http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=d0882f08-7a5b-4555-9088-57e9e7cad0ca

We had em break on the hondo when I was an FO at little ace, at the flight levels up here we'd be at -50, and it be 10 degrees or so at the surface, if we came out of the flight levels too fast the change in temps would crack the window.

 

[Bigey]

What RJ can hold 87 passengers?!

Is that Mesa??

 

[SpiraMirabilis]

Yes, thats a Mesa 900.

 

[970Flyer]

The FO was probably in the lav "cleaning up" a bit when they took the picture.

 

[HeyEng]

I have had 3 let go on the C-5...yeah, you about crap yourself, but as for "annihilated"...yeah, pretty much not going to happen.

All 3 of mine were because of windshield heat failure. You know, cool sparks, turn it off...wait about 1 minute and...wait...wait...BOOM!!!!!!!!!

Lots of fun.

 

[coa787]

At first when I saw the name of the thread, I thought that some FO had really ticked off the captain or something. But then I thought why would something like that be on the news anyway? As far as the shattered windshield thing goes, it's most likely a heating element failure or very cold temperatures at their flight level.

 

[Roger, Roger]

At first when I saw the name of the thread, I thought that some FO had really ticked off the captain or something.

My thoughts exactly...

 

[Murdoughnut]

JO probably fired them for not completing the trip.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

That's interesting that a heating element failure would cause that.

The Lear 31a I fly does not use windshield heat continuously. And when we do, it's for anti-fog rather than anti-ice. (Still use hot bleed air for anti-ice believe it or not)

The Lear windshield is also curved and built to far exceed the stresses imposed upon an RJ. (51,000 foot max cruise, 10 psid, etc) Also, due to the airplane's fuel-hog nature we tend to hang up high as long as possible before descending. So we take a cold-soaked windshield (-60) to 90 degrees plus in the summer over a 20 minute or so time period.

With that in mind, I can't help but wonder why transport category aircraft are built to have windshield heat on full time. If the windshield is allowed to cool as the airplane ascends then it won't have the rapid cooling associated with a heating element failure.

Back when I flew Boeings they told us it was to keep the windshield "soft" in the event of birdstrikes. (shrug)<shrug></shrug>

 

[zmiller4]

A cracked RJ windshield? That never happens!

I don't think the FO was "close to having his face annihilated", though. I think there are three or four RJ windshields break in the US in any given week...haven't heard of any face-smashing yet. I did almost get jacked up by a direct hit from a canada goose once though.

 

[E_Dawg]

Great job guys for letting the press in to take pictures. (not)


Aside from the initial WTF factor, that really is not a big deal in the RJ. There are 3 (??) panes of glass, pressurization holds fine, even the QRH doesn't tell you to land at the nearest suitable.

 

[Roger, Roger]

What is the usual failure mode of these window panes? I would imagine its just one layer of the glass that usually cracks?

 

[Bignellyxx]

stating the obvious but he has a really short thumb

 

[OldTownPilot]

Now if there was a gaping hole in the windscreen and a bird impaled by its beak into the circuit breaker panel, I'd say the FO came close to having a very bad day. Otherwise not so much. I played with a busted windscreen once, it still has quite a bit of structural integrity even after taken off the airplane.

(Howard knows all about windscreen i'm talking about)

 

[Clearblue]

Woah woah relax guys. I obviously know jack about RJ windshields. I'll look into it a little more before I post next time.

Still..... definitely would have made me

 

[mtsu_av8er]

At first when I saw the name of the thread, I thought that some FO had really ticked off the captain or something.

It happens. In my case, there have been a few Captains that almost had THEIR heads through the windshield.

 

[sdfcvoh]

Woah woah relax guys....

Don't sweat it. They just wish they were flying. Its kind of like when toddlers need a nap.

 

[Screaming_Emu]

I read the title and figured this had something to do with Chuck Norris....


...still might have actually

 

[GaTechKid]

I've had a windshield shatter on me in the RJ, and we learned through the QRH and a call to maintenance that it wasn't that big of a deal. There's 3 layers to the windshield and the outer 2 aren't even structurally important