A B767-300 returned to its departure airport when the outer pane of a passenger window cracked.

Attributes
ACN	1007905
Time
Date	201205
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767-300 and 300 ER
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cabin Window
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 12000 Flight Crew Type 6000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown

Narrative:

We were level at 33;000 ft when the flight attendants notified us that a cabin window had cracked at seat 41A. They said that it was the outer pane. Reportedly; made a loud bang sound when it cracked. Captain went to cabin to look and confirmed the outer window had a crack running in a jagged pattern from the top to bottom. Via ACARS; we talked to maintenance control and dispatch. We agreed the safest action was to return to our departure airport. ATC cleared us to descend; turn around and proceed direct. We had dispatch send us landing performance data; read through the diversion page in the fom and made a normal approach and landing.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-300 returned to its departure airport when the outer pane of a passenger window cracked.

Narrative: We were level at 33;000 FT when the Flight Attendants notified us that a cabin window had cracked at seat 41A. They said that it was the outer pane. Reportedly; made a loud bang sound when it cracked. Captain went to cabin to look and confirmed the outer window had a crack running in a jagged pattern from the top to bottom. Via ACARS; we talked to Maintenance Control and Dispatch. We agreed the safest action was to return to our departure airport. ATC cleared us to descend; turn around and proceed direct. We had dispatch send us landing performance data; read through the diversion page in the FOM and made a normal approach and landing.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.