20001201021519I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Beech 200BEECH · Des Moines, IA · December 1, 2000

Date: December 1, 2000 · 10:00 local
Place: Des Moines, IA
Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N300HB
Reported as: Beech 200BEECH
People aboard: 9
Fatal injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 21,000 total1,000 in this make and model200 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

(-23)The aircraft was enroute from nashville TN to sioux city, IA at an altitude of 26000 feet and had just been cleared to descend to 24000 feet when the left windshield shattered. The pilot declared an emergency, depressurized the cabin and diverted to the Des Moines airport. The aircraft landed safely with no further incident. The inner lamination of the windshield was found to have shattered. The outer lamination was not damaged. The windshield heat was on when the incident occured. There were no apparent abnormalities when the windshield heat was turned on. The damage windshield had been installed approximately three and a half year ago (1000 hours of operation).

As the FAA filed it

(-23)THE AIRCRAFT WAS ENROUTE FROM NASHVILLE TN TO SIOUX CITY, IA AT AN ALTITUDE OF 26000 FEET AND HAD JUST BEEN CLEARED TO DESCEND TO 24000 FEET WHEN THE LEFT WINDSHIELD SHATTERED. THE PILOT DECLARED AN EMERGENCY, DEPRESSURIZED THE CABIN AND DIVERTED TO THE DES MOINES AIRPORT. THE AIRCRAFT LANDED SAFELY WITH NO FURTHER INCIDENT. THE INNER LAMINATION OF THE WINDSHIELD WAS FOUND TO HAVE SHATTERED. THE OUTER LAMINATION WAS NOT DAMAGED. THE WINDSHIELD HEAT WAS ON WHEN THE INCIDENT OCCURED. THERE WERE NO APPARENT ABNORMALITIES WHEN THE WINDSHIELD HEAT WAS TURNED ON. THE DAMAGE WINDSHIELD HAD BEEN INSTALLED APPROXIMATELY THREE AND A HALF YEAR AGO (1000 HOURS OF OPERATION).