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Events from Jun 19th 1999 to Sep 9th 2019 www.avherald.com Incidents and News in Aviation List by: Filter: Accident: Sichuan A319 near Chengdu on May 14th 2018, burst windshield

By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, May 14th 2018 10:09Z, last updated Thursday, May 17th 2018 16:03Z A Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319-100, registration B-6419 performing flight 3U-8633 from Chongqing to Lhasa (China), was enroute at 9800 meters (approx FL321) about 60nm west of Chengdu over mountaineous terrain, when the right hand windshield burst completely, the glass hitting and injuring the first officer, the passenger oxygen masks were automatically released, the flight control unit (autopilot panel) was damaged. The captain initiated an emergency descent to 7100 meters (approx FL235 - minimum safe altitude due to mountains), turned the aircraft around and diverted to Chengdu descending the aircraft to 3000 meters as soon as clear of the mountains. The aircraft landed on Chengdu's runway 02R about 35 minutes after leaving 9800 meters. The first officer and a cabin crew member received injuries.



China's CAAC reported the first officer received a waist sprain and scratches when the right hand windshield shattered and separated. A member of the cabin crew received injuries, too. The occurrence is being investigated.



The airline reported a mechanical failure. The captain remained unharmed, the first officer received skin abrasions, a member of the cabin crew a waist injury.



The airline citing the CAAC Southwest Regional Administration subsequently released an event bulletin summarizing preliminary investigation results suggesting, that the aircraft was enroute at 9800 meters at 0.74-0.75 mach when the right hand windshield developed cracks, the crew received an ECAM message regarding the windshield heating soon followed by the windshield bursting. The first officer and a flight attendant received minor injuries (scratches). The flight crew applied the related standard procedures (emergency descent), the passenger oxygen masks were released. The flight crew was unable to establish communication with ATC due to the noise in the cockpit and thus signalled the emergency via the transponder. The windshield was still the original one, the aircraft had accumulated 19,912 flight hours in 12,920 flight cycles, no issues were outstanding on the day of the occurrence. The last C-check was on Mar 9th 2017, the last A-check on Apr 12th 2018. No windshield fault messages were recorded during the last 15 days. The investigation is continuing.



On May 17th 2018 China's AIB reported the aircraft was enroute at 9800 meters when the entire right hand windscreen fell out of the aircraft damaging the Flight Control Unit (FCU) and causing the loss of cabin pressure as result. The passenger oxygen masks were released, the crew declared Mayday via the transponder and diverted to Chengdu. After landing tyres #3 and #4 (both right hand main tyres) burst. There were minor injuries, the level of damage to the aircraft is being assessed. The occurrence was rated a serious incident and is being investigated by China's AIB.



Scene inside the cockpit:





The windshield seen from the terminal:









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Add your comment: (max 1024 characters) Your Name: Your Email: Subject: Your comment: The Aviation Herald Apps

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Interview: The human factor named "Simon Hradecky" and the team of man and machine Get the news right onto your desktop when they happen © 2008-2019 by The Aviation Herald, all rights reserved, reprint and republishing prohibited. We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our site, learn more</s>A CO-PILOT was “sucked halfway” out of a shattered cockpit window as the plane’s captain steered the aircraft to safety.

The Sun reports, Liu Chuanjian is being hailed a hero on Chinese social media after landing the Sichuan Airlines flight manually after his colleague was pulled back into the cabin.

He told the Chengdu Economic Daily that the Airbus A319 had just reached a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet when a deafening sound tore through the cabin.

The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, the right windshield was gone.

Liu spoke of the terrifying moment he realised his colleague had been partially sucked out of the window.

He said: “There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang.

“The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window.

“Everything in the cockpit was floating in the air. Most of the equipment malfunctioned — and I couldn’t hear the radio.

“The plane was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges.”

The co-pilot, who was wearing a seatbelt, was pulled back in and miraculously only suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

Officials confirmed that none of the plane’s 119 passengers or any of the other cabin crew were injured in the nightmarish descent.

Authorities said France’s BEA accident investigation agency and Airbus would send staff to China to investigate.

Sichuan Airlines Flight 3U8633 left the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Monday bound for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

It made its emergency landing in the south west city of Chengdu.

An unnamed passenger told Chinese media: “The crew were serving us breakfast when the aircraft began to shake. We didn’t know what was going on and we panicked.

“Then the oxygen masks dropped ... we experienced a few seconds of free fall before it stabilised again.”

“I’m still nervous. I don’t dare to take an airplane anymore. But I’m also happy I

The windshield shattered about half an hour after the plane had taken off, the Chengdu Economic Daily said.

A separate report said the aircraft had accumulated 19,912 flight hours since entering service at Sichuan Airlines in July 2011.

CAAC also said that the windshield was part of the original aircraft and had no previously recorded faults.

Incidents involving cracked windshields do happen on a regular basis due to bird or lightning strikes but ones involving entire windshields coming off are rare.

In 1990, one of the pilots on British Airways Flight 5390 was blown partially out of the cabin window after its windshield blew out at 23,000 feet.

He survived the incident, which occurred on a BAC-111 jet.

The incident comes just weeks after a passenger was fatally sucked out of a jet after a midair explosion.

Banker and mum-of-two Jennifer Riordan died after being partially sucked out of a Southwest plane window on April 17, 2018.

This article first appeared in The Sun and is republished here with permission.</s>A Sichuan Airlines co-pilot was sucked halfway out of an aircraft’s cockpit when its windshield shattered during a flight, Chinese state media has reported.

Captain Liu Chuanjian and his crew were praised for making an emergency landing after the incident, which occurred Monday morning at 30,000 feet on an Airbus A319 flight from the southern city of Chongqing to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

“The situation was very critical. The windshield was blown off at a 10,000-meter-high altitude. The aircraft was in a state of low pressure and a temperature was minus 30 to minus 40 degree Celsius,” Jiang Wenxue, a Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) official, was quoted as saying by state news agency Xinhua.

The co-pilot almost got sucked out of the cockpit but kept calm, according to Chinese state television station CCTV.

“There was no sign before the windshield burst. Just a huge noise,” Capt. Liu said, according to state news agency China News Service.

“When I looked at the other side, the co-pilot was partially blown out of the aircraft. Luckily, he had the belt buckled up. Many devices were malfunctioned and the plane was jolting strongly. It was very difficult to control,” he added.

The co-pilot suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, the CAA said, adding that a flight attendant was also injured. None of the plane’s 119 passengers were injured and the aircraft safely landed at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport in southern China.

However, passengers and crew described frightening scenes on board the plane during the incident.

“All people were shouting onboard. We just tried our best to reassure the passengers and make everyone believe us that we could touch down safely,” Zhou Yanwen, the injured flight attendant, was quoted as saying by China News Service.

“It happened as the flight attendants were serving our meals. People were shocked,” the agency quoted an unnamed passenger as saying.

Zhou said that some air stewardesses were thrown into air and that food was strewn about.

The windshield shattered over the southwest city of Chengdu about 80 minutes after flight 3U8633 took off at 6:27 a.m. local time (10:27 GMT), the CAA said in statement released by CCTV.

An investigation into the incident is underway.

Chinese people praised the pilot as an “epic hero” on social media, according to China News Service.

“The crew were level-headed and dealt with the crisis decisively and properly, avoiding a major disaster, which shows the superb technical skills and professionalism,” the CAA added.

The incident came nearly a month after the death of a woman who was partially sucked out of a window that broke during a Southwest Airlines flight over the United States.

Southwest passenger Jennifer Riordan died as a result of injuries she suffered in that April 17 flight. Something in the engine broke apart midair, and debris broke a window, passengers said, pulling part of Riordan’s body out as passengers tried to pull her back in. That incident is under investigation.</s>One minute, the Sichuan Airlines flight was cruising at 32,000 feet.

The Sichuan Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing. (Credit: Reuters)

The co-pilot of a Chinese passenger jet that was forced to make an emergency landing was "sucked halfway" out of the plane after a cockpit windshield blew out, local media has reported.

Captain Liu Chuanjian, hailed a hero on social media after having to land the Airbus A319 manually, told the Chengdu Economic Daily his aircraft had just reached a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet when a deafening sound tore through the cockpit.

The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, the cockpit's right windshield was gone.

"There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang," he was quoted as saying.

"Everything in the cockpit was floating in the air. Most of the equipment malfunctioned … and I couldn't hear the radio. The plane was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges."

The co-pilot, who was wearing a seatbelt, was pulled back in.

He suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said, adding that one other cabin crew member was also injured in the descent.

None of the plane's 119 passengers were injured.

When did it happen?

The Sichuan Airlines flight left the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Monday, bound for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

It made its emergency landing in the south-west city of Chengdu.

"The crew were serving us breakfast when the aircraft began to shake," an unnamed passenger told the government-run China News Service.

"We didn't know what was going on and we panicked. Then the oxygen masks dropped … we experienced a few seconds of freefall before it stabilised again.

The windshield shattered about half an hour after the plane had taken off, the Chengdu Economic Daily said.

A separate report said the aircraft had accumulated 19,912 flight hours since entering service at Sichuan Airlines in July 2011.

CAAC also said that the windshield was part of the original aircraft and had no previously recorded faults.

Incidents involving cracked windshields do happen on a regular basis due to bird or lightning strikes, but ones involving entire windshields coming off are rare.

Last month, a woman was partially sucked out of a broken plane window in the United States after an engine blew at 32,000 feet.

Passengers scrambled to save the woman from getting sucked out of the window that had been smashed by debris, but she later died.</s>Workers inspect a Sichuan Airlines aircraft that made an emergency landing after a windshield on the cockpit broke off, at an airport in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China May 14, 2018. Stringer/Reuters
• A Sichuan Airlines flight that was traveling from Chongqing, China, to the Tibetan capital Lhasa was forced to make an emergency landing in the city of Chengdu after the windshield broke.
• The plane's co-pilot was partially sucked out of the window, according to Chinese media reports.
• No passengers were hurt, but the pilot who was partially sucked out of the plane had scratches and a wrist sprain. Another crew member also suffered injuries, according to reports.

A co-pilot for Sichuan Airlines flight 3U8633 was partially sucked out of a plane on Monday after one of the front windshields busted open, according to Chinese media reports.

The plane, which was traveling from Chongqing, China, to the Tibetan capital Lhasa, was forced to make an emergency landing in the city of Chengdu after the windshield broke.

No passengers were hurt, but the pilot who was partially sucked out of the plane had scratches and a wrist sprain, according to Chinese media citing the Civil Aviation Administration of China's (CAAC) Southwest Regional Administration. According to the CAAC, another crewmember was also injured, but no other details were shared. There were 119 passengers onboard, and 27 received check-ups after the incident, according to CGTN, a state-run TV network.

No details have been shared about what caused the windshield to break.

The captain of the flight, Liu Chuanjian, told Chinese media that there were no signs that something was wrong with the plane, an Airbus A319, before the incident.

"The incident happened at 7 o'clock. There was no sign before the windshield burst. Just a huge noise. When I looked at the other side, the co-pilot was partially blown out of the aircraft. Luckily, he had the belt buckled up. Many devices were malfunctioned and the plane was jolting strongly. It was very difficult to control," Liu told media, according to CGTN.

The event is the latest in a string of incidents where windows on plane have broken or been damaged.

On April 17, a Southwest Airlines flight from New York City to Dallas was forced to make an emergency landing after an engine failure sent debris flying into the cabin and busted open a passenger window. The woman sitting next to the window, 43-year-old Jennifer Riordan, was partially sucked out of the broken window and died as a result of her injuries.

In early May, another Southwest Airlines flight traveling from Chicago to Newark, New Jersey, made an emergency landing because the outer layer of a passenger window was cracked.

The NTSB is investigating the incident on April 17 and said that the process could take at least a full year.</s>The co-pilot of a Sichuan Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday was "sucked halfway" out of the plane after a cockpit windshield blew out, local media reported citing the aircraft's captain.

[SHANGHAI] The co-pilot of a Sichuan Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday was "sucked halfway" out of the plane after a cockpit windshield blew out, local media reported citing the aircraft's captain.

Captain Liu Chuanjian, hailed as a hero on social media after having to land the Airbus A319 manually, told the Chengdu Economic Daily his aircraft had just reached a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet when a deafening sound tore through the cockpit.

The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, the cockpit's right windshield was gone.

"There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang. The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window," he was quoted as saying.

"Everything in the cockpit was floating in the air. Most of the equipment malfunctioned ... and I couldn't hear the radio. The plane was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges," he said.

The co-pilot, who was wearing a seatbelt, was pulled back in. He suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said, adding that one other cabin crew member was also injured in the descent. None of the plane's 119 passengers were injured.

An investigation into how the incident occurred is underway.

The flight, Sichuan Airlines 3U8633, left the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Monday morning and was bound for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. It made its emergency landing in the southwest city of Chengdu.

"The crew were serving us breakfast when the aircraft began to shake. We didn't know what was going on and we panicked. Then the oxygen masks dropped... We experienced a few seconds of free fall before it stabilised again," an unnamed passenger told the government-run China News Service.

"I'm still nervous. I don't dare to take an airplane anymore. But I'm also happy I had a narrow escape."

The windshield shattered about half an hour after the plane took off at 6.25 a.m. local time (1025 GMT), the Chengdu Economic Daily said. A separate report said the aircraft had accumulated 19,912 flight hours since entering service at Sichuan Airlines in July 2011.

Incidents involving cracked windshields do happen on a regular basis due to occurrences such as bird or lightning strikes but ones involving entire windshields coming off are rare.

In 1990, one of the pilots on British Airways Flight 5390 was blown partially out of the cabin window after its windshield blew out at 23,000 feet. He survived the incident, which occurred on a BAC-111 jet.</s>A pilot made an emergency landing in southwest China after a broken cockpit window sucked his co-pilot halfway out of the aircraft. The pilot was hailed as a hero on Tuesday by astonished citizens.

Liu Chuanjian braved the intense cold and blasting wind to slow the flight, Sichuan Airlines 3U8633, from its original speed of about 500-560 mph to land in about 20 minutes.

All 128 people aboard the Airbus A319 survived the ordeal.

The plane was bound for Lhasa in Tibet from the southwestern city of Chongqing when the cockpit window shattered at about 32,000 feet. The flight was diverted to the city of Chengdu in Sichuan province.
• None How can a person be physically sucked from an airplane? A former pilot explains 



"The windshield burst suddenly and a loud noise was heard, and when I looked to the side, I saw that the co-pilot was already halfway out of the window. Luckily his seatbelt was tied," Liu told the Chengdu Business Daily.

The plane was vibrating strongly and it was impossible to read the instruments, said Liu, who was a former flight instructor in the Chinese air force.

"I didn't think about anything at all. I wanted to control the plane and land," he later told Sichuan Television.

By Tuesday afternoon, more than 160 million people had viewed or participated in discussions about the pilot on the Twitter-like microblogging platform Weibo.

The most popular chat forum on the incident was titled, "My Hero Captain."

"This is a miracle in the history of Chinese aviation, and shows the special psychological mindset of flight instructors," one commenter wrote.

"Having watched the American film, 'Sully', based on real events, this is even more shocking and exciting!" another commenter said.

He was referring to Chesley Sullenberger, a US Airways pilot who was hailed as a national hero in January 2009 after he managed to save the lives of 155 passengers and crew by landing his stricken airliner in New York's Hudson River.

The safety director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China said at a press conference on Tuesday that the plane "shed its right windshield" as it was flying over Chengdu.

"The windshield has not recorded any failures, nor did it require any maintenance and replacement work" before the incident, Tang Weibin said.

The cause of the incident was still under investigation, he added.

A video published online by the People's Daily shows oxygen masks deployed, and flight attendants walking up and down the aisle to give passengers instructions on how to disembark.

It was the second emergency landing in China in less than a month.

On April 15, an Air China flight was diverted after a man briefly took hostage a crew member he was threatening with a fountain pen.</s>A Sichuan Airlines co-pilot was sucked halfway out of an aircraft’s cockpit when its windshield shattered during a flight, Chinese state media has reported.

Captain Liu Chuanjian and his crew were praised for making an emergency landing after the incident, which occurred at 30,000 feet on an Airbus A319 flight from the Southern city of Chongqing to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

“The situation was very critical. The windshield was blown off at a 10,000-meter-high altitude. The aircraft was in a state of low pressure and a temperature was minus 30 to minus 40 degree celsius,” Jiang Wenxue, a Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) official, was quoted as saying by state news agency Xinhua.

The co-pilot almost got sucked out of the cockpit but kept calm, according to Chinese state television station CCTV.

“There was no sign before the windshield burst. Just a huge noise,” Captain Liu was reported as saying by state news agency China News Service.

“When I looked at the other side, the co-pilot was partially blown out of the aircraft. Luckily, he had the belt buckled up. Many devices were malfunctioned and the plane was jolting strongly. It was very difficult to control,” he added.

The co-pilot suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, the CAA said, adding that a flight attendant was also injured. None of the plane’s 119 passengers were injured and the aircraft safely landed at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport in southern China.

However, passengers and crew described frightening scenes on board the plane during the incident.

“All people were shouting onboard. We just tried our best to reassure the passengers and make everyone believe us that we could touch down safely,” Zhou Yanwen, the injured flight attendant, was quoted as saying by China News Service.

“It happened as the flight attendants were serving our meals. People were shocked,” the agency quoted an unnamed passenger as saying.

Zhou said that some air stewardesses were thrown into air and that food was strewn about.

The windshield shattered over the southwest city of Chengdu about an hour and twenty minutes after flight 3U8633 took off at 6.27 am local time (1027 GMT), the CAA said in statement released by CCTV.

An investigation into the incident is underway.

Chinese people praised the pilot as an “epic hero” on social media, according to China News Service.

“The crew were level-headed and dealt with the crisis decisively and properly, avoiding a major disaster, which shows the superb technical skills and professionalism,” the CAA added.</s>A PLANE CARRYING 128 people made an emergency landing in southwest China after a cockpit window broke at 32,000 feet, sucking the co-pilot partly out of the aircraft, authorities and the pilot said.

The Airbus A319 of Sichuan Airlines was bound for Lhasa in Tibet from the southwestern city of Chongqing when the drama began. The flight was diverted to Chengdu in Sichuan province.

“The windshield burst suddenly and a loud noise was heard, and when I looked to the side, I saw that the co-pilot was already halfway out of the window. Luckily his seatbelt was tied,” pilot Liu Chuanjian told the Chengdu Business Daily.

The plane was vibrating strongly and it was impossible to read the instruments, said Liu, who was hailed as a hero on social media.

Despite these difficulties and the intense cold, the pilot managed to slow the aircraft from its original speed of about 800-900 kph and land in about 20 minutes.

It was unclear how badly the co-pilot, who suffered facial and waist injuries, had been hurt. A female flight attendant was slightly injured during the landing.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement that part of the cockpit window broke as the plane was flying over Chengdu.

The cause of the incident was under investigation, it said.

Images posted on the official People’s Daily newspaper online appear to show a cockpit window completely missing.

A video shows oxygen masks deployed, and flight attendants walking up and down the aisle to give passengers instructions on how to disembark.

It was the second emergency landing in China in less than a month.

On 15 April an Air China flight was diverted after a man briefly took hostage a crew member he was threatening with a fountain pen.</s>SHANGHAI, May 15 (Reuters) - The co-pilot of a Sichuan Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday was "sucked halfway" out of the plane after a cockpit windshield blew out, media reported, citing the aircraft's captain.

Liu Chuanjian, hailed a hero on social media after having to land the Airbus A319 manually, told the Chengdu Economic Daily his aircraft had just reached a cruising altitude of 32,000 feet when a deafening sound tore through the cockpit.

The cockpit experienced a sudden loss of pressure and drop in temperature and when he looked over, the cockpit's right windshield was gone.

"There was no warning sign. Suddenly, the windshield just cracked and made a loud bang. The next thing I know, my co-pilot had been sucked halfway out of the window," he was quoted as saying.

"Everything in the cockpit was floating in the air. Most of the equipment malfunctioned ... and I couldn't hear the radio. The plane was shaking so hard I could not read the gauges."

The co-pilot, who was wearing a seatbelt, was pulled back in. He suffered scratches and a sprained wrist, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said, adding that one other cabin crew member was also injured in the descent. None of the plane's 119 passengers was injured.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said France's BEA accident investigation agency and Airbus would send staff to China to investigate, according to CAAC News which is affiliated to the aviation regulator.

Sichuan Airlines Flight 3U8633 left the central Chinese municipality of Chongqing on Monday bound for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. It made its emergency landing in the southwest city of Chengdu.

"The crew were serving us breakfast when the aircraft began to shake. We didn't know what was going on and we panicked. Then the oxygen masks dropped... We experienced a few seconds of free fall before it stabilised again," an unnamed passenger told the government-run China News Service.

"I'm still nervous. I don't dare to take an airplane anymore. But I'm also happy I had a narrow escape."

The windshield shattered about half an hour after the plane had taken off, the Chengdu Economic Daily said. A separate report said the aircraft had accumulated 19,912 flight hours since entering service at Sichuan Airlines in July 2011.

CAAC also said that the windshield was part of the original aircraft and had no previously recorded faults.

Incidents involving cracked windshields do happen on a regular basis due to bird or lightning strikes but ones involving entire windshields coming off are rare.

In 1990, one of the pilots on British Airways Flight 5390 was blown partially out of the cabin window after its windshield blew out at 23,000 feet. He survived the incident, which occurred on a BAC-111 jet. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Additional Reporting by SHANGHAI Newsroom; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Nick Macfie)
A pilot is injured when a cockpit window breaks and he is partially sucked out of the Airbus A319 operating Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633. The aircraft lands safely at Chengdu.