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California bound plane diverted to Dulles airport
WASHINGTON - A flight from New York to San Diego was diverted to Dulles International Airport Tuesday evening. American Airlines Flight 127 left John F. Kennedy International Airport at 5:12 p.m. bound for San Diego International Airport. An airline spokeswoman says the captain diverted the flight because of a cracked windshield in the cockpit. Flight Track: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL127/history/20120117/2210Z/KJFK/KIAD (wtop.com) Ещё...
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Actually its a nearly plug & play repair. Cracked windshields are not uncommon and usually only the outer layer is compromised. Also aircraft windows are made from many layers of glass, urethane, vinyl, etc. plus they have heating elements embedded in the layers. An airline like American probably has them stocked at their larger stations or at least at their hubs. They might also pool them for popular models such as 737s with other airlines at outer stations through a vendor like PPG.
I wouldn't think it to be a quick fix either. They have a ton of A/C parked for the evening by that time over at DCA anyway, probably faster to make the quick hop. It's only 30-35 minutes surface travel after rush hour, was probably an 11 minute flight from DCA to IAD.
Replacing a window is probably a quick fix if they have one available.
Just a guess, but I'm thinking it might not be too quick on a pressurized plane that flies at 40,000 feet and 500 mph.
Note to pilots - Just because the coffee is lousy, you shouldn't throw it at the windscreen.
The real question is. If the airline wasn't planning to send another plane for the scheduled flight, would they have let the passengers off the damaged plane? It must take a while to replace a windshield on a 737.
