Inner Pane Shatters, Cuts First Officer

Passengers on American Airlines Flight 1738 found themselves in what could have been a made-for-TV movie script over the Atlantic Ocean Wednesday night.

The Boeing 757 was carrying 139 passengers and a crew of seven from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Philadelphia when a disturbingly familiar problem cropped up. A burning smell wafted through the cabin, followed by an announcement from the flight deck that the plane would make an emergency landing at Palm Beach International due to smoke in the cockpit.

Despite making an emergency descent to lessen the cabin pressure pushing out on the damaged glass, the inner pane of the windshield shattered, causing minor injuries to the first officer. He, along with four other crewmembers and one passenger, were treated for minor smoke inhalation and were released from Palm Beach area hospitals.

The National Transportation Safety Board is not sending an investigator, but reportedly has an engineer gathering information from both American Airlines and the FAA. Both flight recorders were removed from the 757, but American was allowed to replace the broken windshield and heater, and return the plane to service.

Boeing identified a problem with the windshield heaters in some of its planes four years ago, and issued service bulletins to operators. The heater uses an electric current, passed through conductors in the tempered glass, to defrost it, in much the same way many auto manufacturers configure rear window defoggers.

The system works well, and the portion in the glass is trouble-free... but the connector block behind the instrument panel is prone to developing a poor connection where the wiring harness is attached. When that happens, arcing can occur, acting like a mini arc welder, overheating the wires, the block, and the glass.

The Palm Beach Post reports the NTSB sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration in September, citing five incidents since 2004 in which the problem had resulted in overheating and even fires. The letter said Boeing was placing a new design in new planes. In the summer of 2006, Boeing sent service bulletins to owners of affected models, including the 757.

The NTSB also said the FAA agreed to issue bulletins requiring replacements... but the FAA replied in November, saying only that it would "propose an airworthiness directive" some time this year.

The Post reports the passengers handled the stress in different ways. Twenty-four were students from Messiah College, a 3,000-student Christian school near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They, along with two faculty advisors returning after three weeks of study in the Caribbean were seated near the back of the plane. They held hands and prayed aloud.

Philadelphia attorney Paul Null told the paper he wrote three goodbye letters to his wife, his 4-year-old son and his 2-year-old daughter. "It was just how much I loved them and some advice for my son on being a man. Just that family is more important than anything else." But, he said, "My wife doesn't want to read it. She said I wrote it under the guise that I wouldn't be here and I was here. "She said, "I know how you feel. Just continue to tell me every day and I won't have to read it in a letter.'"

One of the passengers was illusionist Wayne Hoffman, on his way home to Reading, PA after working on a cruise ship. After staging an improvised, 45-minute mind-reading show to calm passengers after the plane landed, he commented, "I'd say it was the most interesting venue I've ever performed."

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: AAL1738        Make/Model: B757      Description: B-757
  Date: 01/31/2008     Time: 0200

  Event Type: Incident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Unknown

LOCATION
  City: WEST PALM BEACH   State: FL   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 1738, A BOEING 757 AIRCRAFT, DECLARED AN EMERGENCY
  AND DIVERTED DUE TO SMOKE IN THE COCKPIT AND CABIN, AIRCRAFT LANDED WITHOUT
  INCIDENT, SIX PERSONS ON BOARD WERE TRANSPORTED TO THE HOSPITAL WITH
  UNKNOWN INJURIES, NO FIRE WAS REPORTED, WEST PALM BEACH, FL

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   5
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   1
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Unknown      Operation: Air Carrier

  FAA FSDO: SOUTH FLORIDA, FL  (SO19)             Entry date: 01/31/2008

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.aa.com