ACA 26 cracked windshield emergency divert to Narita no injuries

Thats quite the shatter .

I thought I saw a small piece of white duct tape? over the top left. Any ideas?

Hi Bruderal , I can't say that i did . And while i am able to read all the other articles in todays news release , i still can not read about AA , with-out it being plastered with changing Adds . I don't get it , but i give up . Till next time .....DGR

hi Bruderal . Forgive me . I am kind of distracted right now . But i looked at the AC window again , once i realized what you were writing about . I have to agree with you . I was thinking that it appears that it was raining on the ramp , so maybe they covered a crack and /or leak . But that pane sure splintered like a cob web . Hope you have a good day ........DGR

What are the odds of that having been applied at PVG (i.e. before the incident)?

Hi again Bruderal . If in fact , anyone was as reckless as that , staff should be Fired . Also i could not see an Air Canada flt crew signing off on such a fix . Also i had heard about this event on CTV and CBC and the window failed at altitude . My 1st question was what amount of frame flexing would cause a multi pane window to break in such away ?......Penny for your thoughts .......DGR

I hope it was applied at NRT. I have no expertise in this area, but if fuselage flex was a factor, I'd expect a crack to begin at a corner (recalling the original Comet design with square windows). The tape? seemed to be near the top left corner and wasn't in line with the top surface, i.e., at a slight angle and not parallel with the top edge.

Hi again . I went back to the stories 1st photo . If you click on that photo , you get a 90sec NHK video . When the video stops you get a very clear , close up view of the window . For my money , it seems as if there was an impact breakage . Like you see in car involved with a hit pedestrian . Obviously this is not that . But the swirling of the window failure , seems to have started in the bottom left of the window , due to the closeness of the rings and as the swirl pattern moves out . As for the Tape ; in the closer video , i can't tell if it is actually a white metal trim or tape . Please take a look at this again , and let me know what you think ........DGR .

Thanks DGR. That makes sense. Much more likely it is tape applied at NRT (and I expect the ground personnel there would make the extra effort to match the colour) to seal against water. I've seen some creative fixes including workers at HNA/RJSI de-icing a DC-9 around late December 1984.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WMRTUiRPsas7o6vo8

Bruderal , Just out of curiosity , are you related to Air Canada , or just an avid aircraft watcher , like me ?
Have a good night .....DGR