Narrative:

During the take off roll at approximately 100 KTS the crew started hearing an air noise emanating from an unknown source. After rotation the noise grew to a disconcerting level. The noise level was such that radio calls and internal cockpit communications were difficult. The auto pilot was engaged at approximately 500 ft and the aircraft was cleaned up on profile. The crew then started searching for the source of the noise. After being told to contact departure; I (pilot not flying) checked on and was told to maintain 10;000 ft. I then diverted my attention to trying to locate the source of the abnormal noise that was growing louder and more disconcerting. At approximately 10;000 ft I vaguely heard a call from ATC about our altitude and a traffic advisory. As I checked our altitude I noticed that the autopilot had failed to capture 10;000 ft and we were passing 10;300 ft. Before I could do anything about it ATC advised that we were clear of the conflict and issued a climb clearance to 17;000 ft. I then contacted our dispatcher and maintenance personnel and the decision was made to return to our departure airport for mechanical reasons. Flight landed with no further difficulties. Maintenance inspection revealed a three inch section of the co-pilots direct view window was missing; along with a substantial portion of the outer direct view window seal being torn and frayed. I fault my failure to insure that one crew member was responsible for flying the aircraft while the other crew member is delegated to the problem. The flight crew could have been suffering from a slight level of fatigue. Due to our schedule the previous night's required rest was 11 hours and reducible to 9 hours. The rest was scheduled at 9 hours and 25 minutes and further reduced to 9 hours and 4 minutes. I also fault the company policy of not allowing flight crews to open and pre-flight direct view windows and seals. Captains must maintain positive control over crew member duties and situational awareness. SOP should allow crew members to open and preflight cockpit direct view windows and seals. The company should not schedule reduced rest layovers.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An EMB-145 flight crew returned to their departure airport when loud noises emanating from a missing piece of cockpit window made communications impossible.

Narrative: During the take off roll at approximately 100 KTS the crew started hearing an air noise emanating from an unknown source. After rotation the noise grew to a disconcerting level. The noise level was such that radio calls and internal cockpit communications were difficult. The auto pilot was engaged at approximately 500 FT and the aircraft was cleaned up on profile. The crew then started searching for the source of the noise. After being told to contact departure; I (pilot not flying) checked on and was told to maintain 10;000 FT. I then diverted my attention to trying to locate the source of the abnormal noise that was growing louder and more disconcerting. At approximately 10;000 FT I vaguely heard a call from ATC about our altitude and a traffic advisory. As I checked our altitude I noticed that the autopilot had failed to capture 10;000 FT and we were passing 10;300 FT. Before I could do anything about it ATC advised that we were clear of the conflict and issued a climb clearance to 17;000 FT. I then contacted our Dispatcher and Maintenance Personnel and the decision was made to return to our departure airport for mechanical reasons. Flight landed with no further difficulties. Maintenance inspection revealed a three inch section of the Co-pilots direct view window was missing; along with a substantial portion of the outer direct view window seal being torn and frayed. I fault my failure to insure that one crew member was responsible for flying the aircraft while the other crew member is delegated to the problem. The flight crew could have been suffering from a slight level of fatigue. Due to our schedule the previous night's required rest was 11 hours and reducible to 9 hours. The rest was scheduled at 9 hours and 25 minutes and further reduced to 9 hours and 4 minutes. I also fault the company policy of not allowing flight crews to open and pre-flight direct view windows and seals. Captains must maintain positive control over crew member duties and situational awareness. SOP should allow crew members to open and preflight cockpit direct view windows and seals. The company should not schedule reduced rest layovers.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.