Stansted Airport: Orlando flight cancelled due to 'window damage'

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has released a new report after an A321-253NX Airbus “suffered damage” to several of its cabin windows.

The report released last Friday examines the incident which occurred on October 4 last year at Stansted Airport.

According to the report, one of the Titan plane’s cabin windows was seen to be “loose” shortly after taking off.

Upon landing, it was discovered that several windowpanes were missing and after the AAIB conducted its investigation, it was found the windowpanes fell out because they had been damaged by infrared energy.

The energy was emitted by “high intensity lights during a filming event the previous day” before the departure.

Cause - the lighting that was used next to the plane the previous day before the departure (Image: AAIB)

The commercial flight was to depart Stansted Airport to Orlando International Airport, in Florida.

Prior to the boarding of passengers, a pre-flight inspection of the aircraft was carried out but there was nothing noted at the time.

There were eleven members of crew onboard and nine passengers at the time, no one sustained any injuries.

The report claims that passengers recalled that the aircraft cabin seemed “nosier and colder than they were used to”.

Once the aircraft climbed to 10,000 feet, a member of staff investigated the rear of the plane and noticed increased cabin noise as he approached the over wing exits.

Damaged - the cabin window which was discovered during the flight (Image: AAIB)

The man then found a cabin window on the left of the aircraft where its seal was flapping in the airflow and the windowpane appeared to have slipped down.

He described the noise as “loud enough to damage your hearing”.

Subsequently the commanding pilot was informed, and an engineer and the plane’s third pilot went to investigate.

It was then decided to return to Stansted whilst the cabin was quickly secured during the descent, resulting in a total flight time of 36 minutes, at 11.51am.

Problem - some of the concerns that were spotted once the flight was cancelled (Image: AAIB)

Not good - another image of a damaged cabin window (Image: AAIB)

It was discovered that “two cabin window assemblies were missing and a windowpane and seal were dislodged on a third window.”

Moving forward, the report said: “In response to this accident the aircraft manufacturer intends to publish two articles to highlight the damage that can be caused by high-intensity lights."