this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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A U.S.-bound plane took off from London last month with four damaged window panes, including two that were completely missing, according to U.K. air accident investigators.

No one was injured by the window malfunctions, which appear to have been caused by high-power lights used in a film shoot, the U.K.’s Air Accident Investigation Branch reported in a special bulletin published Nov. 4.

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[–] Acters@lemmy.world 43 points 2 years ago (3 children)

How did high power lights even damage the windows so badly that they are literally missing?

[–] MostlyHarmless@sh.itjust.works 42 points 2 years ago (3 children)

From the article

"The lights, which were intended to give the illusion of a sunrise, were placed about 20 to 30 feet from the aircraft, shining on first the right, then the left side of the craft for over nine hours in total.

A foam liner had melted away from at least one of the windows and several window panes appeared to have been warped by the thermal heat. "

[–] SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml 25 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I’m surprised by that, because I’m having a hard time picturing a setup that was all that much hotter than, say, sitting on the tarmac in Phoenix in the summer.

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 19 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Stage lights are hot as fuck dude, even hung from rafters you can feel their directionality on stage.

Hell find someone who likes flashlights and ask to borrow a 1000 lumen lights then shine it at your hand, it gets noticeably hot very rapidly.

[–] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

Especially from 20 feet away

[–] Sinupret@feddit.de 6 points 2 years ago

Am I missing something or is the term "thermal heat" just stupid? Are they trying to sound? Or is there some other meaning of heat that I'm unaware of and that would make sense in this context and therefore the description is needed?

I'm genuinely confused...

[–] Acters@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Huh, to be honest, when i read this, it didn't connect with me how the lights made window panes disappear. were the window panes missing before the flight? It doesn't seem like the window panes fell on anyone or nearby property.

[–] cruspies@kbin.social 7 points 2 years ago

"One shattered window pane was later recovered from the runway during a routine inspection."

[–] Shazbot@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

It's likely the crew was using fresnel lights which are bright and very hot. You can easily burn yourself or set fire to delicate objects after prolonged use. Not impossible to imagine a crew member moving the lights, leaving them on and highly focused to imitate a distant light source; like a magnifying glass under the sun.

[–] cruspies@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago

In the article it says the frames were melted by heat from the lights.

[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 28 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Just FYI, I know English is hard, but "a" means one not two.

[–] mnoram@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago

They did discover a missing window pane. They discovered some more too but at least one. 😉

[–] Salamendacious@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Here's the Instagram account for the article's author. I don't know if she's on lemmy so there's no guarantee she'll see your comment here.

[–] JoBo@feddit.uk 1 points 2 years ago

The author doesn't write the headlines. Not that there's any need to track down the sub-editor to yell at them either.

[–] derf82@lemmy.world 21 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Why use an actual in-service aircraft and not a mock-up or a fuselage from a retired or otherwise out of service aircraft?

[–] SheeEttin@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It was probably more cost-effective.

[–] derf82@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

Probably won’t be now that they’ll have to fix the aircraft.

[–] Very_Bad_Janet@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Maybe I missed this on reading (and rereading) the article, but do they mention the airline?

[–] tiramichu@lemm.ee 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

A different article I read says Titan Airways / TCS World Travel

[–] Very_Bad_Janet@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago
[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

Not really. Most planes leak quite a bit anyway- they’re constantly running air compressors to keep it at about the equivalent pressure of 6,000-8,000 feet.

At that point, it was merely mildly concerning. If the window had blown out mid-Atlantic that would have been terrifying- flying low enough to maintain pressure would expend too much fuel, etc. but they were only 10-15 minutes into the flight; so, no big deal.

Also? At 20kft, yiu have about 30 minutes before you pass out. (Airlines typically have 10-15 minutes oxygen reserves, for a fully packed aircraft, more than enough time to dive down to breathable pressures. Even from the normal cruising altitudes of 30-40k ft)

I’m surprised there wasn’t a flashy warning thing, though. At 14k-ish pressure altitude… the oxy masks should have dropped automatically

[–] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Not really.

I would comfortably say that I would be at least slightly terrified if I were on that plane, regardless of how ultimately justified it would be. Nobody wants to hear that there is a problem or needing to turn back after takeoff.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I meant more that it was a surprise to the crew that two windows were missing. I’d expect something so obvious to show up on a pre flight check

[–] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think it's more shocking that the flight attendants didn't notice.

Based on the 321 size and regulations in the route, it should have had a minimum of 2. Usually, that would mean one in the front and one in the back galley. Even flying mostly empty, they would usually be fully staffed at 4.

How did they not hear the noise? They should know exactly how loud that plane should be.

[–] Norgur@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Besides, windows.that somehow reflect differently than their neighbors should have been spotted with the walk around

[–] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 years ago

That's a whole other good point.

[–] alignedchaos@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago

Nothing you typed makes this situation seem less terrifying.