The Friedman Files

We just got some new information that raises more questions about what happened last night on board an American Airlines Flight from DFW to Ft. Meyers.

The plane made an emergency landing after one of the three paines of a triple pained passenger window shattered in flight — and then flew into the plane’s right engine.  The pilot shut down the damaged engine and made an emergency landing at DFW.   There were 132 Passengers and crew on board – no one was hurt.

Now, an airline source tells us the window that broke was actually a new one, recently installed as part of an American Airlines program to update the windows on the airline’s aging fleet of MD-80’s.  An airline spokesman disputes that, to some extent, saying that if the window is a newer one it was installed months ago and had been through many flights before it broke.  Aviation experts tell us it’s not unusual for the side windows to crack on a plane – but it’s highly unusual for one to fly off of the plane itself. 

Obviously, lots of questions will be asked now.  Is there something about how the window was installed that might have contributed to this?   Why did this particular one fail?  And, did mechanics note any signs of cracks in the window before this happened?  The FAA is investigating along with the airline.