“Thirteen Plus One ” from Air Safety Week, February 26, 2007: The FAA’s Kenitzer said the airlines handled the windshield problem “in a proper manner and there were no safety problems with the incident.” However, the SkyWest planes that suffered windshield cracks were never hooked up to a DIA power source, and the planes were in the process of taking off or landing when the problem developed, Snow said. The NTSB’s Kaiser confirmed that there were no reports of impact from flying debris.įrontier reported that cracks were noticed by employees on two of the company’s planes while they were parked at gates and hooked up to an airport power source, leading to speculation that a power surge might have led to the unusual cracking of the windshields, which have electronic heating elements. Yet that would likely have damaged other parts of a plane’s exterior, and SkyWest spokeswoman Marissa Snow said no additional damage was found on her company’s aircraft. Initial reports suggested the windshield damage might have been caused by chunks of ice or other blowing debris. SkyWest, which operates about 152 departures a day from Denver, halted its DIA operations for 1 1/2 hours after the windshield cracks were discovered.ĭIA was buffeted by winds that exceeded 50 mph at times on Friday, officials said. One plane from Great Lakes Airlines encountered the problem as well, Kaiser said. NTSB is looking at whether a pressure change may have contributed, she said.ĭIA spokesman Chuck Cannon said airport operations and maintenance employees could offer no explanation for the windshield problems.Ĭommuter carrier SkyWest Airlines reported nine of its planes suffered windshield cracks, and Frontier Airlines officials said four of its aircraft suffered similar damage. Some planes were taking off, some were landing and some were parked at various locations on DIA’s airfield.ĭIA was experiencing highly variable weather at the time of the incidents, with high winds, rapid temperature changes and some snow, Kaiser said. The cracking occurred over a 1 1/2 hour period on Friday afternoon, Kaiser said. The National Transportation Safety Board will have a glass specialist from its structures division examine 22 damaged front and side windshields that were removed from the affected planes, said NTSB air-safety investigator Jennifer Kaiser. “We believe it is very remarkable to have this number of events in the same area at the same time.” “We are not discounting anything,” said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer, whose agency is among those investigating the incidents. Safety officials remain mystified why windshields cracked on at least 14 planes at Denver International Airport on Friday. #Airport enhancement services cracked windshield crack#“DIA, feds yet to crack windshield mystery,” Denver Post, February 21, 2007: One airplane expert told ABC news the cracking was “not only unusual, I know of no precedent for anything like this where multiple windshields have been cracked simply by being in a particular place at a particular time.” Later the NTSB attributed it to sand-like debris. Articles on a episode in February 2007 during which airplane windshields were mysteriously cracking while sitting on DIA runways or in flight.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |