Well... somebody's gotta be in trouble over this, right?

https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/titan-a321neo-lost-windows-in-flight-after-thermal-damage-from-high-power-floodlights/155663.article

Excerpt:

Quote

 

Investigators believe intense heat from film floodlights concentrated on the exterior of an Airbus A321neo caused the aircraft’s windows to suffer thermal damage, before a number of window panes fell from the jet during a flight from London Stansted.

The Titan Airways aircraft had been conducting a positioning service to Orlando on 4 October, ahead of a multi-day charter operation. Nine passengers were accompanying the aircraft which also had 11 crew members.

As the A321neo climbed off runway 22 the passengers – seated in the forward cabin – felt that the interior was colder and noisier than it ought to be.

When the aircraft reached 10,000ft and the seat-belt sign was switched off, the loadmaster went to checked the noise – which he described as particularly loud. In the vicinity of the overwing exits he noticed a dislodged window pane, and informed the cabin crew and pilots.

 

 

Edited November 9, 20232 yr by HiFlyer

I'm guessing that checking the cabin windows is not on the checklist for crew preflight walkaround.

It didn’t take off with missing windows - they came off after takeoff when the plane started pressurizing. The thermal damage the windows suffered when the aircraft was used for shooting a movie a few days before may not have obvious without removing the cabin sidewall. Not the sort of thing the crew would have spotted in a preflight walk around.

A GIV belonging to my previous employer was used to film some ground based cabin scenes in 2009 for the Brendan Fraser movie “Furry Vengence”. The filming took place at the airport in Beverly MA (KBVY). They also had the plane lit up from the outside, but as I recall the lights were not too close. No obvious damage to the fuselage or windows that I am aware of, but now I wonder if there might have.been hidden damage. The windows never fell out in any subsequent flights!

I accompanied the plane to manage ground power during the filming. I got to watch Brendan Fraser and Ken Jeong “up close and personal”. Unfortunately, the person I really wanted to meet, (Brooke Shields), wasn’t involved in any of the scenes shot at the airport. 😢

The movie tanked at the box office when it was released…

"the loadmaster went to checked the noise"  Didn't realise commercial aircraft needed a load master. I am aware that military aircraft use them though.

A few more details and photos below.

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During said photoshoot, the airline had reportedly used intense 12,000-watt stage lighting to simulate a sunrise. For up to five and a half hours, three of the windows were exposed to this intense light, and may have reached temperatures approaching 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This warped the acrylic windowpanes and melted their foam insulation, allowing them to fall out in flight and damage the left-side horizontal stabilizer as they passed.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/passenger-flight-takes-off-missing-two-windows-no-one-notices-until-10000-feet

On 11/9/2023 at 12:07 AM, Freo said:

"the loadmaster went to checked the noise"  Didn't realise commercial aircraft needed a load master. I am aware that military aircraft use them though.

Given the generous proportions of many of us Americans, a loadmaster might be an appropriate crewman on an airliner. 😂