In a bizarre incident, a passenger on a Florida-bound charter flight from the U.K. noticed that the plane was missing a window while the jetliner was at a high altitude. The plane safely returned to England without any injuries to the crew or passengers.
According to the U.K.’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, two outer windowpanes were found to be missing, and an outer pane and an inner pane were dislodged on the Airbus A321. Notably, the plane’s cabin did not lose pressure during the flight.
The flight, intended to head from London’s Stansted Airport to Orlando International Airport, had 11 crew members and nine passengers on board. Everyone on board either worked for the tour operator or the company that operates the plane.
Several passengers mentioned that after takeoff, the cabin felt “noisier and colder than they were used to,” as the report indicated. As the flight surpassed 10,000 feet, a man walking toward the back of the aircraft observed the cabin noise increasing and noticed a window that had caught his attention.
The man reported that the window seal was flapping in the airflow, and the windowpane seemed to have slipped down. Notably, the character of the cabin noise was described as “loud enough to damage your hearing.”
After being alerted by the man, the crew and pilots were informed. The aircraft reached an altitude of just over 14,500 feet before the pilots ceased climbing any higher and eventually decided to return to Stansted.
Prior to the flight, a film crew had utilized the plane with high-powered lights directed towards the windows for several hours, which the report revealed, led to thermal damage and distortion on the windows.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
