Passenger Panic: Dreamliner Window Cracks Mid-Flight On Way To New York

An incident on a recent LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to New York’s John F Kennedy has been dramatically brought to life after a passenger released a video of onboard panic as a window appeared to crack.

The video, uploaded to TikTok by passenger Tristan, ran with the simple caption “Throwback to when our plane window cracked on polish airlines and everyone freaked tf out.”

In the video, the passenger’s window has clearly cracked in several places causing all passengers in the row to scramble from their seats to assumed safety. Reported in the The Aviation Herald, details show that on 20 August the Boeing 787-8 was en route “about 300nm northeast of New York when one of the passenger windows cracked.”

Crew can be seen asking passengers to immediately sit down and buckle up while also informing the pilots. “The aircraft descended to 10,000 feet reaching 10,000 feet about 15 minutes later and continued to New York for safe landing,” The Aviation Herald continued. Once landed, the aircraft was on the ground for five hours before being dispatched on its return flight to Warsaw where the window would be replaced.

A Polish Airlines spokesperson explained that it was the inner electro photochromatic layer used to darken the window that had broken, and the tightness of the window was not impaired, with no threat to passengers on board at any time.

“This particular window was not broken. Dreamliner’s windows consist of many layers. What was broken was the internal layer responsible for dimming the window. This fault is well know, as electro photochromatic window dimming system is vulnerable to damage by physical contact with sharp or heavy objects.”

The incident comes mere months after another on the same plane, also involving an electro photochromatic window. Traveling from Seoul Incheon International Airport in South Korea to Warsaw on 4 January 2022, the flight crew “noticed a burning odor on board and requested emergency services on stand by for landing. The crew subsequently declared Mayday and continued for a safe landing on runway 11. After landing a passenger dimmable window showed signs of burning.”

In a Polish-language report, Poland’s accident investigation body, the PKBWL, stated that no cause could be determined and no anomalies found to explain the smell. The aircraft returned to service about 22 hours after landing.