Horror in the sky: Ice Block Falling From Another Plane Shatters Mid Air Flight’s Windscreen

28/ 12/ 2021 a las 3:46 | Publicado en Daños, Hielo del fuselaje, Materiales | Comentarios desactivados en Horror in the sky: Ice Block Falling From Another Plane Shatters Mid Air Flight’s Windscreen

With a shattered windshield, pilots were able to fly the plane to San Jose in California for repairs, saving the lives of around 200 passengers on board.

Updated: December 28, 2021 8:50 PM IST

London: A British Airways jet suffered a mid air scare recently when a block of ice that fell from another plane, flying 1,000ft above it, shattered it windscreen. The Boeing 777 was flying from London Gatwick to Costa Rica at an altitude of 35,000 feet, when a ice block struck its windshield in a ‘one-in-a-million chance’, causing misery for passengers unable to get back to the UK for Christmas, reported Daily Mail.

With a shattered windshield, pilots were able to fly the plane to San Jose in California for repairs, saving the lives of around 200 passengers on board. However, due to the delay in repairs and rescheduling of flight, the passengers remained stranded at an airport and could not reach home in time for Christmas Eve.

As per Daily Mail report, the flight was rescheduled for the following evening but due to failure to get a plane diverted from Jamaica, passenger were forced to spend another night in the airport hotel. They were finally able to leave on Boxing Day – around 50 hours behind schedule.

Following the incident, British Airways issued a ‘heartfelt apology’ to passengers whose Christmas Day plans were ruined due, and blamed the lengthy delay on the smashed windscreen.

“We would like to send a heartfelt apology to the customers on this flight, who have had their Christmas plans ruined. We will never fly an aircraft unless we feel it is completely safe to do so, and on this occasion, our engineers were unable to clear it to fly. Since then, our teams have been working behind the scenes to do all they can to ensure an aircraft is ready at the earliest opportunity to bring customers to London,” Daily Mail said quoting a British Airways spokesperson.

“We appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers and our engineers and crew colleagues who have done everything possible to assist,” the airline added.

Cockpit windshields are around two inches thick, made from various layers of mineral glass and clear plastics laminated together.

Fuente: India.com