And a weather balloon….
On 16 October, a B737MAX8 suffered a cracked windshield whilst en route DEN-LAX. The incident occurred near SLC.
Whilst there’s nothing strange about a cracked windshield, this happened at FL360! The crew decided to descend to FL260 and divert to SLC because of a crack in one layer of the multilayer windshield. The NTSB immediately opened an investigation whilst aviation media began their speculation as to what had caused this. A bird strike quickly ruled out due to air temperature and conditions at that height. It was also suggested that a piece of space debris or meteor had hit the aircraft.
So, what actually happened? Information began to surface about a possible encounter with a weather balloon. Windborne Systems began investigating the incident and issued a statement that they considered it was likely to be one of their balloons. Their preliminary investigation report sent to NTSB and FAA. It’s the company’s responsibility to co-ordinate with FAA and file NOTAMs for every balloon they launch. Windborne immediately rolled out changes to minimise the time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. They are accelerating plans to use live flight data to autonomously avoid aircraft, even for those at a non-standard altitude. New hardware designs are also being worked on to further reduce impact force magnitude and concentration.
Interestingly, internet searches revealed it was indeed a Windborne balloon hours before the company released its statement. The exact balloon also identified and its telemetry/data showed it stopped transmitting at the time of the accident. A picture of the damaged windshield shows a small hole, no bigger than a large coin, located at the upper mid corner on the First Officer’s side. The remainder of the glass shattered. The Captain sustained 4 long cuts on his right arm. The hole was so small that it had no effect on the aircraft’s pressurization. The mass would probably weigh around 1 kilo and be soft. Some also carry ballast systems to achieve a long duration float for weather data collection. That ballast is usually sand which could account for the “scorch” marks above the windshield.
The aircraft, N17327, is yet to re-enter service.
In other news –
Emirates – another new livery has been rolled out on their A380. This time, it’s to mark 25 years of the airline’s Skywards reward programme. Aircraft registration A6-EUE, which is a regular visitor at MAN.
Korean Air – has placed order for up to 100 Midnight air taxis from California-based Archer Aviation. The e-VTOL to be used across multiple applications, starting with Government work. Midnight is pilot operated and will carry up to 4 passengers on 10-20 minute, 20-50 square mile trips in urban areas where helicopters currently operate. With electric propulsion, they are expected to be far quieter. Korean’s order follows a similar one from a consortium including Japan Air Lines.
American Airlines – recently took delivery of its first A321XLR. The initial revenue flight for N303NY is JFK-LAX scheduled for 18 December.
Swiss – operated its first revenue flight for recently delivered A350, HB-IFA. The short hop ZRH-PMI-ZRH. Poor weather at ZRH meant a go-around, much to the delight of the FR24 reporter onboard, who considered the flight wasn’t long enough! Several short-haul flights will be conducted before it enters long-haul service on 20 November, to BOS.
And finally –
BA – last Wednesday, Captain Mark Grigg flew his last Airbus narrowbody flight. Here’s his stats from the past 6 years
3372 hours
152 different aircraft – A319, A320ceo, A320neo, A321ceo, A321neo
905 landings
374 different pilots
98 destinations including 54 night stopping ones
He’s yet to divulge whether it will be Airbus or Boeing widebody. However, having done B777 before, bets seem to be on A350 or A380.
Information courtesy of The Aviation Herald, Airline Geeks, FlightAware, Captain Mark Grigg (on X)
Images courtesy of Jalopnik, Archer Aviation
©TPSC, LadyJet2 and photo/diagram suppliers