Can an airplane fly safely with a broken windshield？ Senior captain dispels doubts

　　Yesterday, there was moderate rain in the whole city, with heavy rainfall in the south and east, and heavy rain in some places. From 22: 00 on May 25 to 15: 00 on May 26, the average rainfall in the city was 18.3 mm, and the maximum rainfall occurred in Daxing Yufa, 80.8 mm.

　　After the rain, the north wind came, and there will still be about 4 northerly winds and 7 gusts in this city during the day. The temperature will gradually rise from now on, and it will reach about 34℃ again at the weekend.

　　China Southern Airlines reported yesterday that yesterday morning, due to the thunderstorm weather in Beijing, the CZ3101 Guangzhou-Beijing flight of China Southern Airlines was hit by hail and its windshield broke. The crew was disposed of according to the manual procedures, and the plane landed safely at Beijing Capital Airport at 11: 48 am, and the crew on board were safe. According to public information, the Airbus A380 was flying the flight.

　　Encountered several violent bumps and cracks on the outside of the windshield.

　　From the photos taken by netizens circulating on the Internet, it can be seen that the paint on the nose of the plane is obviously damaged, the external radome is damaged, and the windshield is seriously broken.

　　In the recording of a conversation between the crew of flight CZ3101 and the Beijing Tower to confirm the situation on board, the crew said, "You can see that there is a crack outside the windshield."

　　The Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned from an on-board passenger that when the plane entered the landing stage, it suffered several violent bumps. "There were three or four sections, each of which was tens of seconds. The bumps were much more serious than those I experienced before flying. You can see that there are very thick clouds around the plane." As can be seen from the photos taken after the passenger got off the plane, the paint on the nose of the plane was obviously damaged.

　　Another passenger recalled that when the plane landed, "it felt like riding a roller coaster. I almost threw up at that time. It was so lucky to land safely."

　　Flight safety landing netizens "like" the captain.

　　When this incident came out, it triggered a heated discussion among netizens, and many people "liked" the captain. Weibo, the official of China Southern Airlines, said, "The flight was affected by the thunderstorm weather in Beijing. During the landing in Beijing, the plane was hit by hail and the windshield was broken. The crew was disposed of according to the manual procedures. The plane landed safely at Beijing Capital International Airport at 11: 48, and the crew was safe. "

　　In an interview with the reporter of Beiqing Daily, China Southern Airlines said that the captain of this flight is He Xianghang, with a flight experience of about 15,000 hours and a technical level of Class C teachers.

　　At 08: 35 yesterday, flight CZ3101 took off from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport normally, and approached in the airspace of Beijing Capital Airport at 11: 20. When flying around the clouds in a thunderstorm, it was suddenly hit by hail, which caused the outer layer of the windshield to rupture and affected the pilot’s sight.

　　The flight crew was calm in the face of danger, managed cockpit resources efficiently, and handled it in strict accordance with the operating procedures of the company manual. For safety reasons, MAYDAY was immediately announced, and the situation at that time was comprehensively evaluated: first, the aircraft was damaged. Because the A380 windshield is a three-layer structure, only the outer windshield is damaged and the inner layer is intact, which can ensure safe flight. In addition, all systems of the aircraft operate normally and are safe and controllable.

　　The second is the weather. Damage to the outer windshield will affect the heating of the windshield, and the aircraft can’t fly in the ice accumulation area. According to the latest weather situation and forecast of the Capital Airport, the crew found that the weather system has basically crossed the border and met the conditions for safe landing. The third is the navigation facilities of the Capital Airport. The Capital Airport has the condition of Class II blind descent, which can improve the safety margin. At the same time, I learned from the cabin that there was no abnormality on the whole. Based on the above situation, the crew shortened the air flight time as much as possible and applied to the controller for priority landing.

　　Finally, the plane landed safely at 36R runway of Beijing Capital Airport at 11: 48 yesterday. All the crew members adhere to the eternal theme of flight safety. In the case of damaged windshield, they strictly standardize operations, decisively evaluate and make decisions, land safely in the shortest time, and always regard the safety of passengers’ lives and property as the highest responsibility of pilots.

　　Can an airplane fly safely with a broken windshield?

　　Chen Jianguo, a senior captain, said in an interview with the reporter of Beiqing Daily that the aircraft radome is made of synthetic materials, not a part of the pressurized fuselage, and the damage may only have an impact on the weather radar, but has little impact on the safe flight of the aircraft.

　　Chen Jianguo said that according to the manual of Airbus aircraft, the front windshield of the aircraft has six layers, namely, outer layer, heating coating, interlayer, middle layer, interlayer and inner layer from outside to inside. The outer layer is heated by the heating coating, which mainly plays a protective role. When the plane flies in the air, the outside temperature will be as low as MINUS 60 degrees Celsius, and the heated windshield can effectively maintain a certain strength and toughness. The middle layer and the inner layer are called structural layers. No matter the middle layer or the inner layer, any layer has the ability to bear twice the maximum pressure difference of the aircraft, so as long as there is any glass in the middle or the inner layer, the aircraft is safe.

　　Chen Jianguo explained that when the plane’s glass is broken, the pilot can touch it along the crack with a pen or fingernail to see if the inner glass is broken. If the inner glass is broken, it is impossible to estimate whether the middle layer is also broken. It should be lowered immediately to reduce the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the plane, so as to avoid the danger that the plane will deteriorate further and lose the whole windshield, thus losing pressure. If the inner glass is not damaged, the plane is safe and can continue to fly safely because the inner glass can bear at least twice the maximum pressure difference.

　　Text/reporter Yan Lishuang Qu Chang