A plane took off, flew to 14,500 ft, then realised 2 of its windows were missing

A recent incident has brought a nightmare to life for air travelers, as a plane took off with two of its windows missing. This plane took off from Stansted Airport in London to Florida in US with its missing windows and had 11 crew members and nine passengers.

What the

• The incident took place on October 4, when the Airbus A321 jet took off from Stansted, London airport.
• The plane was previously used by the government. However, after the cabin crew pointed it out, it later returned to the Essex airport.
• According to reports, by that time, it had already reached 14,500 feet. Later upon examination, it was revealed that two of the cabin windowpanes were missing and the other two were misaligned.
• The only object occupying the space between the missing windowpanes was the scratch pane, a piece of plastic meant to keep passengers from touching the outer panes.
• As per the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), the incident could have resulted in "more serious consequences."

How did it happen?

According to an initial report, the incident took place the day after the plane had been used for filming on the ground, with strong lights strategically positioned nearby to create the illusion of a sunrise.

These lights were directed at the aircraft's right side for nearly five and a half hours before shifting to the left side for four hours.

The AAIB guidelines specify that the lights should be situated at a minimum distance of 10 meters from the subject they are illuminating, but in this case, they were positioned within six to nine meters, which might have caused the damage.

The time of the incident

• It's worth noting that during the flight, all passengers were seated in the middle of the aircraft.

• Following takeoff and the deactivation of the seatbelt sign, a crew member noticed that the seal around one of the windows was "flapping," as reported by the AAIB.

• He shared the observation with the rest of the crew, and a decision was made to return to the airport, where the plane landed safely.

• Importantly, the aircraft had reached an altitude of 14,500 feet and then returned back.

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