An A320 First Officer's front windshield outer pane cracked while cruising at FL360. The outer layer was non structural so the flight slowed and descended; as per the QRH; then continued to its destination.
Synopsis
An A320 First Officer's front windshield outer pane cracked while cruising at FL360. The outer layer was non structural so the flight slowed and descended; as per the QRH; then continued to its destination.
Narrative
While at a cruise altitude of 36000'; and approximately half way through our flight; my First Officer noticed a crack in his forward window. As we examined it; it was continuing to increase in length. It then started to create an air tunnel in which there seemed to be fluid. About this time we noticed that it started to develop a small (maybe an inch) electrical arch; and then we heard a loud bang; and the outer pane of the window shattered. This all happened very quickly; and had it not been for the keen eyes of the First Officer; we would have had no idea why this happened. We contacted Dispatch and had them conference in Maintenance Control. After discussion with our Maintenance Control and referencing our flight manual; we determined that it was indeed the outer pane that had shattered; and that there was only one flight restriction which would not be prohibitive to continuing the flight to our destination. Upon further consultation with Dispatch and Maintenance; it was agreed that all parties involved were comfortable with the flight still being able to be conducted in a safe manner; and that no need to deviate was necessary. All SOPs and flight manual procedures followed. The rest of the flight was uneventful and a normal landing was made at our destination.
Second reporter narrative
After referring to the Flight Manual we descended to FL220; slowed down; brought the differential pressure to less than 5; and made sure the windshield heat was off on the First Officer side. After consulting with Maintenance and Dispatch we continued to our destination. Landing was uneventful and we debriefed Maintenance.
More incidents for this aircraft family →
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.