Cem CRJ1 near George on Mar 26th 2024, shattered windshield
Last Update: December 27, 2024 / 20:31:57 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Mar 26, 2024
Classification
Incident
Airline
Cemair
Flight number
5Z-404
Departure
Johannesburg, South Africa
Destination
George, South Africa
Aircraft Registration
ZS-CMK
Aircraft Type
Canadair CL-600 Regional Jet RJ-100
ICAO Type Designator
CRJ1
South Africa's CAA opened an investigation into the occurrence.
The aircraft remained on the ground for about 48 hours before returning to service.
In December 2024 South Africa's CAA released their final report concluding the probable causes of the incident were:
Electrical arcing in the heating element, evidenced by the discoloured polymer interlayer, was a significant factor which caused the crack on the windshield. The arcing caused localised high temperatures and electrical stress. Extensive delamination between the outer glass layer and the interlayer on the heating element interface compromised the heating element’s effectiveness. The temperature gradient and stress of the malfunctioning heating element likely caused the delamination. The stress which exceeded the tempered glass layer’s limits led to the fracture and further delamination.
The CAA summarized the sequence of events:
The aircraft departed from FAOR to FAGG at 0810Z, operated under instruments flight rules [IFR]. Around 0930Z whilst cruising at FL300 and about 10 minutes before the top of descent, the starboard (right-side) cockpit windshield cracked. The first officer (FO) who was the pilot flying (PF) promptly donned the oxygen mask and declared an emergency to Cape Town (FACT) air traffic control (ATC). The ATC officer cleared the aircraft to descend to FL090. The aircraft descended safely and, later, executed an uneventful landing on Runway (RWY) 11 at FAGG. The damage was confined to the starboard cockpit windshield; all occupants were not injured.
Upon inspection of the starboard windshield assembly, significant fractures were found on the outer glass layer; moreover, extensive delamination was found between the outer and intermediate layers on the heating element interface. This delamination caused the temperature gradient which increased stress on the glass. The primary cause of the failure was localised arcing where delamination had occurred; this was likely due to moisture ingress between the glass layers. The arcing increased localised stress which led to the windshield’s crack.
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Mar 26, 2024
Classification
Incident
Airline
Cemair
Flight number
5Z-404
Departure
Johannesburg, South Africa
Destination
George, South Africa
Aircraft Registration
ZS-CMK
Aircraft Type
Canadair CL-600 Regional Jet RJ-100
ICAO Type Designator
CRJ1
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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