An Airbus A321 departing from London Stansted for Orlando made a half-circle after reaching 3,000 meters when the crew discovered that three windows were damaged, in particular the rubber seals were worn and partly torn off.
This was reported by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the body that analyzes aeronautical accidents in the United Kingdom.
The cause would have been attributed to the prolonged exposure of that part of the aircraft to high temperatures, used during a video shooting event, which caused deformed the window housing.
A Special Bulletin concerning damage to several cabin windows on an Airbus A321-253NX (G-OATW) which departed London Stansted Airport on 4 Oct 2023 has been publishedhttps://t.co/kgHLtV9gHK pic.twitter.com/Ew3MvQ7N9T
— AAIB (@aaibgovuk) November 3, 2023
Although passengers reported cold and noise, the problem was only detected at 4,000 metres, forcing the pilots to make an emergency return after 36 minutes. Subsequent inspection confirmed the missing window components.