
3 window frames seriously damaged, causing near-crash with Airbus A321 – Photo: AAIB
On October 7, passengers on a Titan Airways flight from London, England to Florida, USA suffered a heart attack. To resolve the problem the Airbus A321 carrying them was forced to return to its departure point, London Stansted Airport, even though it had reached an altitude of 4,500 metres.
Three aircraft windows on the Airbus were damaged, according to a new investigative report released last week by the British Aviation Incident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The reason this happened was because of a filming session that happened earlier. The lighting used to support filming exerted a large amount of heat on the window system, causing structural damage to the area.
Normally, airplane windows have 3 layers of glass on the outside. The Airbus that suffered the problem had two outer glass layers of two window frames blown off after take off. Additionally, the rubber rim around the third window was removed.

The investigation found that the filming lights exerted a large amount of heat on the three upper window frames, causing damage to the safety structure in this area – Photo: AAIB
According to records, the crew discovered the problem during the passenger check-in process when the plane reached an altitude that allowed passengers to take off their seat belts. They noticed that there were very obvious loud noises in the area near the damaged window. In addition, he also noticed the rubber edge of the upper window swaying in the wind, so he immediately informed the pilot.
A decision was taken to immediately turn around and make an emergency landing. Due to timely action the aircraft landed before the last layer of glass was damaged, otherwise the damage would have been truly unexpected.
If the window is fully open, the surface area of the window is so large that the pressure in the plane can drop rapidly. This factor causes low oxygen in the cabin, forcing passengers to wear breathing masks. People sitting near the broken window frame will also be in danger as the field will absorb everything nearby.
