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Packed Virgin Atlantic Boeing jet's windscreen 'cracked at 40,000 feet' on flight from Heathrow to San Francisco
Daily Mail ^ | 6.22.2024 | Poppy Atkinson Gibson

Posted on 06/22/2024 7:04:56 AM PDT by libh8er

Photos show a dented central window pane with cracks in multiple areas but the cause of the damage has left investigators scratching their heads.

The crack in the four-layer thick glass left cockpit crew terrified as the plane made its transatlantic voyage.

The incident occurred three hours into the flight as the jet flew between Greenland and Iceland and forced Virgin Flight VS41 to make a U-turn and fly back to the UK on May 27.

Experts have said that the plane's altitude meant it could not have hit a bird and no immediate other course have been highlighted but temperatures outside the aircraft were -50 degrees Celsius.

Despite the huge crack, pilots tried to calm fears that the cabin had suffered from any decompression and the airline apologised to passengers.

Following the return to the UK, travellers were offered accommodation and were able to fly to San Francisco the following day The Sun reported.

The terrifying crack is the latest issue to plague the already troubled Boeing manufacturer.

Earlier this month a passenger jet carrying 163 passengers and nine crew cleared the end of a runway by just ten feet after a software glitch allowed it to take off using too little power.

The TUI Boeing 737-800 was taking off from Bristol Airport's 1.2-mile runway 9 to Gran Canaria on March 4 when it struggled to take off.

The 15-year-old jet eventually managed to get airborne but passed over the nearby A38 road at less than 100 feet before making its way to the sunny island.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: boeing; virginatlantic; windscreen
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To: null and void

Cue up the Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner…


41 posted on 06/22/2024 8:11:55 AM PDT by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: Who is John Galt?

That one deserves a thread of its own.


42 posted on 06/22/2024 8:13:47 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Da Coyote
So, yes, s**t happens, and it’s not always associated with Boeing.

But groupthink panic-mongering says "Boeing Bad. USA Sux" ... so we must blame Boeing. Because thinking for yourself is unacceptable.

BTW, I hear that geologists have discovered a new seismically active area on the west coast.

Yep. You guessed it:

Boeing's Fault.

43 posted on 06/22/2024 8:14:49 AM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: silverleaf

Youtube video of above
Aircraft lost window on pilot side of cockpit
Amazing story

https://youtu.be/9vbpdPo8c7k?si=rX6kmeNC6nzQzfon


44 posted on 06/22/2024 8:16:35 AM PDT by silverleaf (“Inside Every Progressive Is A Totalitarian Screaming To Get Out” —David Horowitz)
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To: TangoLimaSierra; Erik Latranyi

TangoLimaSierra: “I wanna see what kind of bird is flying at 40,000 ft.”
Erik Latranyi: “Not at 40,000 feet.”

______________________

One would think you would Google it before making ridiculous statements. I design equipment to survive bird strikes…it is amazing the damage they can inflict. A bird strike is possible at 40,000 ft.

FYI:

Bird strikes have even been reported at altitudes as high as 37,000 feet, and birds have been spotted as high as 54,000 feet!

https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/active-pilots/safety-and-technique/bird-and-wildlife-strikes#:~:text=Birds%20can%20often%20be%20spotted,as%20high%20as%2054%2C000%20feet!


45 posted on 06/22/2024 8:17:41 AM PDT by jacknhoo (Luke 12:51; Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.)
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To: libh8er

Cracked windshield? Eh.
I’ve changed a few on heavy transports. Can’t see worth a damn through them but otherwise just a nuisance. Make an interesting coffee table.
I seriously doubt the cockpit crew panicked. The writer is just trying to cause a panic.
Boeing does not own this one.


46 posted on 06/22/2024 8:17:59 AM PDT by dagunk
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To: libh8er

Parts fail…

There are reasons they make jr with multiple layers


47 posted on 06/22/2024 8:18:36 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: libh8er
Airline changes name to “Boing!” to fit aircraft idiosyncrasies.
48 posted on 06/22/2024 8:34:46 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (Are you ready for Black Lives MAGA? It's coming.)
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To: TangoLimaSierra

Not to worry, just some parts from the Boeing Starliner that’s docked with the ISS!


49 posted on 06/22/2024 8:40:33 AM PDT by Lake Living
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To: alexander_busek

Reminds me of the Far Side cartoon where the copilot says something panicky because a light is on, but it’s just the intercom light, and now the passengers are freaked out.


50 posted on 06/22/2024 8:48:46 AM PDT by Disambiguator
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To: TangoLimaSierra
Meteorite or maybe satellite debris

Perhaps a door that fell off of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft?

51 posted on 06/22/2024 8:49:58 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (THE ISSUE IS NEVER THE ISSUE. THE REVOLUTION IS THE ISSUE.)
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To: libh8er

Micrometeorite


52 posted on 06/22/2024 8:52:37 AM PDT by Slicksadick (We accept the love we think we deserve.)
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To: silverleaf

Remove the shoulder harness but in flight, NEVER the lap belt except to leave the seat.

Captain’s fault, he paid for his carelessness.


53 posted on 06/22/2024 8:56:27 AM PDT by BatGuano (Dem's guilty of Election Fraud in 2020, stand by for 2024.)
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To: Jeff Chandler

Cracked windshields happen. Knew a guy in about 79 or 80 who had a crack appear in cruise in a Lockheed Electra. Nothing happened.

As to goofy fiction about flying..
“The Horror of the Heights” 1913 Aurthur Conan Doyle


54 posted on 06/22/2024 9:29:49 AM PDT by FrozenAssets (You don't have to be crazy to live here, but it helps)
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To: libh8er

Boeing needs a top to bottom housecleaning before their brand is irreparably tainted for good.


55 posted on 06/22/2024 9:32:46 AM PDT by Wuli
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To: libh8er

Glass is a strange thing. House windows can suddenly start to crack for no known reason, and once a crack starts then it runs all the way to the edges of the glass in a short time. Just saw it happen on a window that was 3 months old.

Unless some exact cause for this incident is Identified then there is no way to know who or what is to blame.


56 posted on 06/22/2024 9:47:23 AM PDT by Revel
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To: Scarlett156

Ayn was right about a lot.

I’m glad I don’t have to fly these days. Not that I did enough to mean anything


57 posted on 06/22/2024 9:52:30 AM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: libh8er
Need more info, however initial guess is that the several layers of the windscreen amounts to successful, multiple redundancy. A good thing.

As for the airliner that barely made the takeoff, one suspects that there's a weight and balance story here.

I fly Boeing, with no hesitation, so long as I think the crew and the maint are "in the green".

58 posted on 06/22/2024 10:01:28 AM PDT by Seaplaner (Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never...in nothing, great or small...Winston ChurchIill)
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To: TalBlack

No clue what to make of this. More and more I’m reading news stories that seem written by a child or an idiot or were translated by software.

__________________________________________

It’s written by Brits. So yeah. It does need translating into American English.


59 posted on 06/22/2024 10:16:46 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (A truth that’s told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent ~ Wm. Blake)
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To: Seaplaner
< I fly Boeing, with no hesitation, so long as I think the crew and the maint are "in the green".

That's a fairway to put it, not too rough...

60 posted on 06/22/2024 11:01:20 AM PDT by null and void (“No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up”. ~ Lily Tomlin)
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