Windshield crack forces emergency landing for flight
A photo posted by a witness shows the cracked windshield on the left behind the captain's seat.
The crew of a Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines flight properly handled an emergency after a cockpit windshield cracked in the air, China's civil aviation regulator said on Friday.
The Airbus 320 operating Flight HO1231 made an emergency landing at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in central China's Hubei Province at 10:55pm on February 19, over three hours after it took off from Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport. No one was injured.
The middle-level glass of the windshield on the left of the captain's seat fractured in the air, which would not impact flying safety, according to the investigation by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
"Though the aircraft could keep flying to the destination, the crew chose a safer and more reliable measure and landed at the Wuhan airport safely," said Zhu Tao, director of the CAAC flight safety department.
A passenger jet's windshield, including those of Boeing 737 and Airbus 320, has three layers of glass. The structure was mainly supported by the middle and interior glass. Either supportive layer alone can maintain the barometric pressure in and outside the cabin and ensure flying safety, Zhu explained at a regular CAAC press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Windshields can fracture in the air when hit by birds or hailstones. The electric arc discharge of the heating system can also crack the glass, said Zhu.
The cause of the incident is still under investigation and will be publicized, he added.
There were a total of 254 incidents involving windshields crackings among Chinese airlines between 2017 and 2021, or about 50 such cases annually, according to the CAAC.
The crew will normally handle the emergency according to procedure and select the best measure to ensure the safety, Zhu said.
A similar incident happened in May 2018, when the cockpit wind shield of a Sichuan Airlines' jetliner Airbus 319 broke and dropped in the air.
The Flight 3U8633 from southwest Chongqing to Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, was later safely diverted to land at the Chengdu airport.
