Flying at 4km altitude, returning 36 minutes after departure
An incident occurred where a British passenger plane returned to the airport just 36 minutes after takeoff because four windows were damaged during the flight.
According to local foreign media on the 9th (local time), on the 4th of last month, a passenger plane departing from London, UK, bound for Florida, USA, experienced damage to four cabin windows, two of which fell off during the landing process.
The aircraft was a British Airbus A321 carrying 9 passengers and 11 crew members. Unaware of the window damage, the plane took off and was flying when passengers complained that it was "too cold and noisy." While checking the situation, a crew member noticed that the window seals were fluttering.
The crew member immediately reported this to the captain and other crew members, and after an engineer inspected the windows, it was determined that the plane could no longer continue flying. The aircraft, which had been flying at a minimum altitude of 14,000 feet (about 4 km), returned to London Stansted Airport 36 minutes after departure. There were no casualties.
The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AIB) stated, "There was a filming event inside the passenger plane for about 4 to 5 hours the day before," and interpreted that "the high-intensity lighting used during this event and the resulting heat likely caused the windows to deform."
When an aircraft window is damaged, cabin pressure rapidly drops, causing temperature and oxygen levels to plummet. If oxygen masks are not used promptly, hypoxia can occur. Due to the pressure difference, people can even be sucked out of the aircraft.
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