Frontier A319 near New Orleans on May 4th 2015, "lost windshield", emergency descent
Last Update: April 27, 2016 / 13:58:11 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
May 4, 2015
Classification
Incident
Airline
Frontier Airlines
Flight number
F9-1225
Departure
Orlando, United States
Destination
Las Vegas, United States
Aircraft Registration
N941FR
Aircraft Type
Airbus A319
ICAO Type Designator
A319
The remainder of the flight was cancelled.
On May 19th 2015 the French BEA reported in their weeky bulletin that the windshield cracked and smoke occurred. The occurrence was rated a serious incident, the NTSB is investigating.
On Apr 27th 2016 the NTSB released their final report concluding the probable cause of the incident was:
The ingression of moisture into the windshield’s laminate layer, which induced electrical arcing in the windshield heating system that subsequently cracked the outer glass pane of the windshield.
The NTSB reported that about one hour into the flight while maintaining FL340 the first officer pointed to his windshield, where arcing and sparks were seen at the bottom of the windshield quickly developing from the left hand side and intensifying towards the right hand side. Before the captain could call the related checklist out a pop sound was heard and the whole right hand windshield cracked. The crew could not recall whether there had been any indications regarding the windshield heating, the flight data recorder revealed an "ANTI ICE R WINDSHIELD" ECAM message. Queried about 4 months after the occurrence the captain could also not recall whether the first step of the cracked windshield checklist to determine, whether the inner pane had cracked, had been executed or not. However, the captain recalled, that the bottom left edge of the windshield appeared to be melted and there was also smoke on the flight deck and the crew concluded these events were related.
The windshield had been installed on the aircraft during aircraft manufacture and had accumulated 38,085 flight hours in 16,015 flight cycles.
An examination of the windshield revealed that there was evidence of repairs to the moisture seal along the entire upper and aft (right) edges. The outer pane of the windshield showed moderate cracking with portions of material missing at the origin of the cracking. The wiring and connectors appeared normal. Evidence of moisture ingress was found at the lower forward (left) edge of the windshield.
Incident Facts
Date of incident
May 4, 2015
Classification
Incident
Airline
Frontier Airlines
Flight number
F9-1225
Departure
Orlando, United States
Destination
Las Vegas, United States
Aircraft Registration
N941FR
Aircraft Type
Airbus A319
ICAO Type Designator
A319
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
Article source
You can read 2 more free articles without a subscription.
Subscribe now and continue reading without any limits!
Read unlimited articles and receive our daily update briefing. Gain better insights into what is happening in commercial aviation safety.
Send tip
Support AeroInside by sending a small tip amount.
Related articles
Fleet type match
Frontier A21N at Charlotte on Mar 27th 2024, evacuation after odour
A Frontier Airlines Airbus A321-200N, registration N611FR performing flight F9-1759 from Charlotte,NC to Orlando,FL (USA) with 226 people on board,…
Fleet type match
Frontier A321 at Denver on Jan 25th 2024, engine fire indication
A Frontier Airlines Airbus A321-200, registration N701FR performing flight F9-4635 from Denver,CO to Phoenix,AZ (USA) with 134 people on board, was…
Fleet type match
Frontier A20N at San Antonio on Nov 9th 2023, fumes in cabin
A Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-200N, registration N303FR performing flight F9-990 from Denver,CO to San Antonio,TX (USA), was descending towards San…
Fleet type match
Frontier A20N at Philadelphia on Oct 5th 2023, nose gear did not retract
A Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-200N, registration N328FR performing flight F9-519 from Philadelphia,PA to Denver,CO (USA), was climbing out of…
Fleet type match
Frontier A321 at Denver on Sep 19th 2023, fumes on board
A Frontier Airlines Airbus A321-200, registration N717FR from Denver,CO to Raleigh/Durham,NC (USA) with 160 people on board, was climbing out of…
Newest articles
Fleet type match
UPS B744 at Tokyo on May 6th 2023, hard touchdown on windshear recovery
A UPS United Parcel Service Boeing 747-400, registration N580UP performing flight 5X-109 from Shanghai Pudong (China) to Tokyo Narita (Japan), was on…
Fleet type match
Delta B763 at New York on Apr 26th 2024, emergency slide trouble
A Delta Airlines Boeing 767-300, registration N176DN performing flight DL-520 from New York JFK,NY to Los Angeles,CA (USA), was climbing out of JFK's…
Subscribe today
Are you researching aviation incidents? Get access to AeroInside Insights, unlimited read access and receive the daily newsletter.
Pick your plan and subscribePartner
A new way to document and demonstrate airworthiness compliance and aircraft value. Find out more.
ELITE Simulation Solutions is a leading global provider of Flight Simulation Training Devices, IFR training software as well as flight controls and related services. Find out more.
Your regulation partner, specialists in aviation safety and compliance; providing training, auditing, and consultancy services. Find out more.
AeroInside Blog
Popular aircraft
Airbus A320Boeing 737-800
Boeing 737-800 MAX
Popular airlines
American AirlinesUnited
Delta
Air Canada
Lufthansa
British Airways