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A 767 crew reported sustaining an arcing; then cracking; windshield while at cruise altitude. They initiated an expedited descent and successfully diverted to a suitable enroute alternate airport.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1298998 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201509 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZWY.ARTCC |
| State Reference | NY |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Dusk |
| 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 | Cockpit Window |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
About 2 hours 48 minutes into our flight half way between muney and jebby intersections; on M-202; at FL370 M.80; the captain's front windshield began arcing internally; from lower right to upper left. An arc line was created with fast moving; flickering internal sparks. The line ended up being almost 20 inches long. Just as the arcing stopped; a loud bang occurred and nearly the entire windshield became badly cracked. All of this happened in about 6 seconds. We turned off the window heat as quickly as possible. We [contacted ATC]; checked the TCAS display for potential traffic and decided to descend to 10;000 feet; slowing from M.80 to 250 knots. Chose halifax; as the nearest-suitable-airport; which was about 200 miles or less; away. We completed the QRH instructions for cracked windshield and emergency landing.as we approached halifax we requested arff (air rescue fire fighter) to meet the aircraft. Weather was VFR at the airport. We landed just under max landing weight with a vertical speed of approximately 200 ft/min. Rollout was uneventful using predominantly reverse thrust. Arff reported no apparent damage to undercarriage nor any signs of brake heating. We taxied to the gate.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A 767 crew reported sustaining an arcing; then cracking; windshield while at cruise altitude. They initiated an expedited descent and successfully diverted to a suitable enroute alternate airport.
Narrative: About 2 hours 48 minutes into our flight half way between MUNEY and JEBBY intersections; on M-202; at FL370 M.80; the captain's front windshield began arcing internally; from lower right to upper left. An arc line was created with fast moving; flickering internal sparks. The line ended up being almost 20 inches long. Just as the arcing stopped; a loud bang occurred and nearly the entire windshield became badly cracked. All of this happened in about 6 seconds. We turned off the window heat as quickly as possible. We [contacted ATC]; checked the TCAS display for potential traffic and decided to descend to 10;000 feet; slowing from M.80 to 250 knots. Chose Halifax; as the nearest-suitable-airport; which was about 200 miles or less; away. We completed the QRH instructions for cracked windshield and emergency landing.As we approached Halifax we requested ARFF (Air Rescue Fire Fighter) to meet the aircraft. Weather was VFR at the airport. We landed just under max landing weight with a vertical speed of approximately 200 ft/min. Rollout was uneventful using predominantly reverse thrust. ARFF reported no apparent damage to undercarriage nor any signs of brake heating. We taxied to the gate.
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.