A plane took off with missing window panes; crew realises the horror at 10,000 ft in the air

A huge flight accident was averted last week when a commercial flight departed from Stansted Airport in London for Florida with two missing window panes! The crew in Airbus A321 realised it when the plane reached over 10,000 ft in the sky.

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The details were shared by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

Reportedly, a crew member spotted the missing window glasses while the aircraft was in mid-air mid-way. The aircraft had touched an altitude of 14,500 ft by then! The passengers were seated in the middle of the aircraft.

After takeoff, a crew member at the back saw that the seal around one of the windows was ‘flapping’ unusually, and then realised what had happened.

It was a close call for passengers and crew. At the time of the incident, the plane was carrying 11 crew members and 9 passengers. Thanks to the quick thinking of a crew member, such a big incident was avoided.


The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) stated that this incident had the potential for "more serious consequences." The aircraft was checked thoroughly by the investigators and, in their preliminary report, saw that not only were two of the cabin window panes missing, but others were misaligned too.

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The aircraft was operated by Titan Airways and was being used by the government before.