Cold front suspected of causing cracks to windscreens of 14 aircraft in one afternoon
US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators are trying to determine what caused a rash of airline windshield failures at or near Denver International Airport on 16 February.
Between 12:20 and 15:30, 22 windscreens failed on 14 aircraft, according to Jennifer Kaiser, the NTSB official in charge of the investigation. Affected aircraft from various carriers, including SkyWest Airlines and Frontier Airlines, were Bombardier CRJ200/700s, Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias, Beech 1900s and Airbus A318/A319s.
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Damage occurred to 14 aircraft |
At least two aircraft aborted their take-offs after windscreens cracked other failures occurred at the gate or in flight. SkyWest officials said all of their aircraft were repaired and flying again by 17 February. "We have no idea what went on," says SkyWest,"but we're leaning towards weather." Pilots reported nothing unusual in terms of weather that afternoon, says Kaiser.
The NTSB is assembling meteorological information from that afternoon, which Kaiser said included "windy, cold, warm and snow" conditions. Roy Rasmussen, researcher with the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in nearby Boulder, Colorado, said sensors at the airfield showed a cold front passed through at 12:20, with an associated increase in pressure and winds and drop-off in temperature.
While the pressure increase and temperature decrease were not unusual, Rasmussen said the wind behind the front was unusually strong, with a peak gust of 23m/s (51mph) in mid-afternoon.
Experts from windshield manufacturers PPG Aerospace and Saint-Gobain are assisting investigators.
Source: Flight International
