A recent report revealed the moment when a commercial plane out of the London Stansted Airport last month managed to gain more than 14,500 feet in altitude before crew members realized one of the plane’s windows was broken.
Passengers on the Florida-bound charter flight initially raised concerns after pointing out that it had flight felt much "noisier and colder" on the plane than was typical. Upon inspection, the flight's loadmaster discovered that the seal on a cabin window on the left side of the aircraft was "flapping in the airflow."
A report released by the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), detailed that the "windowpane appeared to have slipped down,” and that the cabin noise was “loud enough to damage your hearing.”
The loadmaster subsequently informed the cabin crew as well as the commander of the issue, prompting officials to undertake measures to return to the airport after staff inspected the damaged window. The findings further outline "there were no abnormal indications on the flight deck" after the damages were documented.
"The approach and landing on Runway 22 were uneventful," the AAIB report noted, adding that the Airbus A321 plane returned to the London airport just 36 minutes after take-off. "With the airport RFFS in attendance the aircraft taxied to the apron, where the passengers disembarked normally."
However, under further inspection, crew members found that not only was one window pane damaged, but so were two others. The report states one windowpane was “dislodged,” while two others were missing entirely. Inside the missing window panes were “scratch panes,” which are a piece of plastic put in place so passengers cannot touch the outer windowpane, one news outlet explained.
The report additionally explains the windows sustained “thermal damage and distortion” because of elevated temperatures. Apparently, the plane had been exposed to high-powered light that were used for a filming event the previous day that had taken somewhere between four and five-and-a-half hours.
The AAIB said they will continue to investigate “with the support of the BEA5 , the aircraft manufacturer, and the aircraft operator to understand how a similar occurrence can be prevented from occurring again.” Officials emphasized the incident could have had far more serious consequences.