FI888, an Icelandair flight from Orlando to Keflavik, had to make an emergency landing due to a shattered cockpit window. The flight path shows a very, very steep descent. The pilots landed at the nearest airport, Canadian Forces Base Bagotville in Saguenay, Québec. Although it doubles as a civilian airport, it does not have customs, so officers had to be flown in to process the passengers before they were able to be put into hotels.

According to an Icelandair mechanic quoted in the CBC article, the shattering was "spectacular", with a 20 centimeter crack in the cockpit window.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/icelandai ... -1.4142517

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal ... -1.4871541

Almost every day in the US a cockpit window cracks on a commercial aircraft. I see them regularly. It makes for great, sensational journalism on a slow news day but is not too far out of the ordinary.

B757Forever wrote:

Almost every day in the US a cockpit window cracks on a commercial aircraft. I see them regularly. It makes for great, sensational journalism on a slow news day but is not too far out of the ordinary.

I seriously doubt that this happens on a regular basis...

FA9295 wrote:

B757Forever wrote:

Almost every day in the US a cockpit window cracks on a commercial aircraft. I see them regularly. It makes for great, sensational journalism on a slow news day but is not too far out of the ordinary.

I seriously doubt that this happens on a regular basis...

It happens pretty regularly, averages out to a couple times a month in the US alone.

The diversion airport is noteworthy.
Does not show up often.

GE9X wrote:

FI888, an Icelandair flight from Orlando to Keflavik, had to make an emergency landing due to a shattered cockpit window. The flight path shows a very, very steep descent.

I second my voice to other posts this is no drama, the maneuver undertaken by a pilot depends on the type of plane & subsequently the type of cockpit window installed, also whether affected window is a front windshield or a side cockpit window; different variables give different requirements within different aircraft MELs.

Two examples come to mind:

- Some types of cockpit windows permit the continuation of a flight on the condition that aircraft descends to 10,000 ft or below. After completing the flight the defective window needs to be replaced.

- Some types of windows permit an outer pane to be cracked and the aircraft can fly for up to 20 flights before that window is replaced.

So, reaction to this defect is relative and depends on type of cockpit window & type of aircraft.

It is news, and most aviation geeks would like to hear about it. And landing in near Arctic areas is even newsier.

FA9295 wrote:

B757Forever wrote:

Almost every day in the US a cockpit window cracks on a commercial aircraft. I see them regularly. It makes for great, sensational journalism on a slow news day but is not too far out of the ordinary.

I seriously doubt that this happens on a regular basis...

I've worked in aircraft maintenance for 33 years. It happens more than you know. As stated in a previous reply, certain conditions allow you to continue, others require landing at a suitable airport. The most common cause is a failed window heat controller.

ushermittwoch wrote:

The diversion airport is noteworthy.
Does not show up often.

This was the airport Trump/Air Force One used last June when he attended the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec. The commercial side has flights on Air Canada.

https://aeroport.saguenay.ca/en

frmrCapCadet wrote:

It is news, and most aviation geeks would like to hear about it. And landing in near Arctic areas is even newsier.

Ummm "near arctic"?

frmrCapCadet wrote:

It is news, and most aviation geeks would like to hear about it. And landing in near Arctic areas is even newsier.

Near arctic areas? Wow.

It’s 130 miles north of Quebec City. Minot AFB, North Dakota is closer to the arctic than Bagotville. Yes that’s right. Bagotville is south of Minot.

frmrCapCadet wrote:

It is news, and most aviation geeks would like to hear about it. And landing in near Arctic areas is even newsier.

Artic?? What are you talking about?? Look at a map......the Airport is at 48.3 north latitude which is further south than London or Paris!

Any pics as yet of said window ?

frmrCapCadet wrote:

It is news, and most aviation geeks would like to hear about it. And landing in near Arctic areas is even newsier.

Fair enough, though it's not quite "near-Arctic." Its latitude is the same as Paris.

ushermittwoch wrote:

The diversion airport is noteworthy.
Does not show up often.

No because YQB and YUL are not that far away... this is one of those rare instances where the pilots were "get down right the f*** now" and so headed to the closest long enough paved runway.

GE9X wrote:

FI888, an Icelandair flight from Orlando to Keflavik, had to make an emergency landing due to a shattered cockpit window. The flight path shows a very, very steep descent. The pilots landed at the nearest airport, Canadian Forces Base Bagotville in Saguenay, Québec. Although it doubles as a civilian airport, it does not have customs, so officers had to be flown in to process the passengers before they were able to be put into hotels.

According to an Icelandair mechanic quoted in the CBC article, the shattering was "spectacular", with a 20 centimeter crack in the cockpit window.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/icelandai ... -1.4142517

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal ... -1.4871541

CBSA flown in? YBG has customs facilities. They get winter seasonal sun flights from WG. I know outside of the winter peak the CBSA work something like 0800-1600 at YBG. Surely the local CBSA would have been called in?

sixtyseven wrote:

frmrCapCadet wrote:

It is news, and most aviation geeks would like to hear about it. And landing in near Arctic areas is even newsier.

Near arctic areas? Wow.

It’s 130 miles north of Quebec City. Minot AFB, North Dakota is closer to the arctic than Bagotville. Yes that’s right. Bagotville is south of Minot.

To be fair, Minot feels like the arctic in the middle of January

Definitely not Parisian weather, even in October. Although the Arctic is unusually warm this year. And just a general note on Canadian weather. The worst thing about Canadian weather is that Vancouver Island and Vancouver BC in the winter are the closest thing Canada has to Arizona or Hawaii, or anyplace that is warm and nice.

Any bumps in the Iceair schedule because of this? I know they run a pretty tight schedule, although this time of the year, I would imagine their fleet utilization has some slack in it compared to say, July.

frmrCapCadet wrote:

Definitely not Parisian weather, even in October. Although the Arctic is unusually warm this year. And just a general note on Canadian weather. The worst thing about Canadian weather is that Vancouver Island and Vancouver BC in the winter are the closest thing Canada has to Arizona or Hawaii, or anyplace that is warm and nice.

Just admit that you made a mistake. The more you you try to justify it; the more foolish you look.

sixtyseven wrote:

frmrCapCadet wrote:

It is news, and most aviation geeks would like to hear about it. And landing in near Arctic areas is even newsier.

Near arctic areas? Wow.

It’s 130 miles north of Quebec City. Minot AFB, North Dakota is closer to the arctic than Bagotville. Yes that’s right. Bagotville is south of Minot.

A picture says a thousand words. Note the presence of Quebec on the map, just north of Montreal. Then 130m north is Bagotville.

Wow, from a cracked windshield to a debate over CFB Bagotville's proximity to the Arctic Circle, one of the most OT threads in recent memory.

sixtyseven wrote:

frmrCapCadet wrote:

It is news, and most aviation geeks would like to hear about it. And landing in near Arctic areas is even newsier.

Near arctic areas? Wow.

It’s 130 miles north of Quebec City. Minot AFB, North Dakota is closer to the arctic than Bagotville. Yes that’s right. Bagotville is south of Minot.

I guess for some people in warmer climates would consider all of Canada as being "near Arctic"

TropicalSky wrote:

Any pics as yet of said window ?

Legend has it that the window instantly froze due to Bagotville now being the new North Pole.

It's not near the arctic, it's around the same latitude as St. John's, Newfoundland.

But what happened to the fish?

Jouhou wrote:

sixtyseven wrote:

frmrCapCadet wrote:

It is news, and most aviation geeks would like to hear about it. And landing in near Arctic areas is even newsier.

Near arctic areas? Wow.

It’s 130 miles north of Quebec City. Minot AFB, North Dakota is closer to the arctic than Bagotville. Yes that’s right. Bagotville is south of Minot.

I guess for some people in warmer climates would consider all of Canada as being "near Arctic"

Lol including the part of Canada that’s south of Northern California.

B757Forever wrote:

But what happened to the fish?

Also it was put in a refrigerated hotel... no biggie
TRB

frmrCapCadet wrote:

Definitely not Parisian weather, even in October. Although the Arctic is unusually warm this year. And just a general note on Canadian weather. The worst thing about Canadian weather is that Vancouver Island and Vancouver BC in the winter are the closest thing Canada has to Arizona or Hawaii, or anyplace that is warm and nice.

This is your comeback? Haha

Thanks for the update on current arctic weather. Clearly you’re more of a meteorologist than geographer.

Your “near arctic” comment killed ya.

Flight was 688; there is no flight 888.

The descent wasn’t all that steep. Rather briefly -5000 fpm. I’ve been on normal flights that descended at -4000 fpm (it was noticeable, but not an emergency). My understanding is that most gauges go to 6000 and that descents faster than -6000 are not that uncommon in an emergency when it’s really important to get down fast.

SCQ83 wrote:

It doesn't look that exotic to me. According to Wiki, that airport has flights to YUL and sun destinations in the Caribbean (Cancún, etc). And Saguenay is about 150,000 residents. So for a city that size in Canada, I wouldn't call it exactly the "middle of nowhere".........

The Saguenay Fjord is also port of call for cruise ships out of Boston and New York:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruiseto/c ... fcall=7054

The plane “made a rapid drop to the ground.” Ooooooo! That sounds hyperbolic!

Issue seems to have started with arcing in the pane from the heating system.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... nc-453012/