Crj-200 first officer reports a shattered captain's side front windshield at FL260 and starts descen...

Narrative:

We were at cruise at FL260 when we heard a loud pop noise and the captain's side front windshield outer panel shattered. We immediately checked to ensure pressure was stable (which it was); and decided to descend in case the other panes shattered as well. I (pilot flying) initiated a descent; the captain (pilot monitoring) grabbed the QRH; and I advised ATC that our windshield shattered and we were in a descent to 10. The controller cleared us down and asked if we wanted to declare an emergency; we didn't at that time but did a short time later with the same controller. A broken windshield; besides being startling with no obvious cause; creates at least two specific risks. One - of it worsening to the point that pressure is lost and/or breaks apart into the cockpit; and two - the visibility restrictions caused by a spider webbed window. We started descending prior to receiving clearance in order to minimize the first risk and notified the controller of our actions within a few hundred feet (at the first opportunity) to get an additional set of eyes to compensate for the second; and of course to keep the controller in the loop.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-200 First Officer reports a shattered Captain's side front windshield at FL260 and starts descending. ATC is advised and an emergency is declared before diverting to a suitable airport.

Narrative: We were at cruise at FL260 when we heard a loud pop noise and the Captain's side front windshield outer panel shattered. We immediately checked to ensure pressure was stable (which it was); and decided to descend in case the other panes shattered as well. I (pilot flying) initiated a descent; the Captain (pilot monitoring) grabbed the QRH; and I advised ATC that our windshield shattered and we were in a descent to 10. The Controller cleared us down and asked if we wanted to declare an emergency; we didn't at that time but did a short time later with the same controller. A broken windshield; besides being startling with no obvious cause; creates at least two specific risks. One - of it worsening to the point that pressure is lost and/or breaks apart into the cockpit; and two - the visibility restrictions caused by a spider webbed window. We started descending prior to receiving clearance in order to minimize the first risk and notified the controller of our actions within a few hundred feet (at the first opportunity) to get an additional set of eyes to compensate for the second; and of course to keep the controller in the loop.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

Attributes
ACN	1196680
Time
Date	201408
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cockpit Window
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

Crj-200 first officer reports a shattered captain's side front windshield at FL260 and starts descending. ATC is advised and an emergency is declared before diverting to a suitable airport.