Cleaning windows in flight

Noxegon

I found this story interesting:

http://avherald.com/h?article=4d1de8cc&opt=0

"The crew went around, climbed to 8500 feet, depressurized the aircraft, opened the cockpit side window and cleaned the windscreen by hand."

Dardania

Noxegon wrote: »

I found this story interesting:

http://avherald.com/h?article=4d1de8cc&opt=0

"The crew went around, climbed to 8500 feet, depressurized the aircraft, opened the cockpit side window and cleaned the windscreen by hand."

Fair balls to them!

billy few mates

I've been on several A320 post maintenance test flights where the crew opened the DV window. On some aircraft it's part of the smoke drill to clear smoke from the cockpit, in this airline some crew who were undergoing type training enquired what it would be like to fly with the window open and what affect it would have on communications etc so it was decided to try it on the next maintenance test flight.
Nobody was too sure exactly what was going to happen and it was actually quite a non-event just a bit noisier. After that whenever we had a test flight they would de pressurise the aircraft and open the window and complete a circuit quite regularly.

billy few mates

There's a picture here of a 757 taking off with the window open...


https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/5879226


Also I remember an incident many years ago when the F/O's DV window on a 767 which hadn't been properly closed suddenly slid open during the take off roll. The crew abandoned take off late and burst the tyres blocking the main runway
One of the conclusions of the incident was that the crew should have continued the take off and flew unpressurised until they could return to land...

PinOnTheRight

Training video from a few years ago regarding the 737s DV window opening during take off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEMcD-RWA9A

Dardania

billy few mates wrote: »

There's a picture here of a 757 taking off with the window open...


https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/5879226


Also I remember an incident many years ago when the F/O's DV window on a 767 which hadn't been properly closed suddenly slid open during the take off roll. The crew abandoned take off late and burst the tyres blocking the main runway
One of the conclusions of the incident was that the crew should have continued the take off and flew unpressurised until they could return to land...

Wonder what the circumstances were that led to that window being left open

billy few mates

Dardania wrote: »

Wonder what the circumstances were that led to that window being left open

It's quite common for the crew to open the window for a bit of fresh air while they're sitting on the ground, it's also possible to close the window without fully engaging the lock on the handle so while it looks closed its not actually locked closed so likely to fly open.
A lot of airlines have placrards on the windows to remind you to check they're correctly closed and detent marks on the opening handles as a visual cue. It's also a before taxi checklist item for some operators.

Stovepipe

It's quite a fright when a window opens on you, suddenly, so it has to be undertaken with caution if doing it deliberately. I dispatched an F50 one time and it took off and immediately returned to land. The skipper had not locked her DV window and got a scare when it opened after rotationand she got a blast of cold air on her face. She was extra particular about that part of the checklist afterwards.