Have you ever wondered while flying on an airplane why windows are round? Well, actually it’s not a perfect circle, but rather a cylinder or an oval. The point is that it is curious that these are not rectangular windows in use, as in the house. And the truth is that in the past they were. However, they caused several fatal accidentsso when the engineers figured it out, they quickly redesigned the planes, eliminating window cornersYes
The problem that caused all these accidents due to rectangular windows is related to Pressure. We already know that even when aircraft cabins are pressurized, there is a significant pressure difference between inside and outside. In addition, the pressure outside is increasingly reduced. when you get up. This creates a stress in the plane, which is easily eliminated due to cylindrical.
The voltage that occurs in the fuselage moves smoothly along it until it reaches the windows. There he suffers an interruption, which will depend on their form. If there are corners rising tension there so the crystals can break. In addition metal near windows it will also come under pressure and may worsen. Instead, if they are rounded, even if they are not a perfect circle, we eliminate this corner problem.
Plane crashes that led to the alteration of windows
In 1890 a French engineer Clement Ader blew up what is considered the first aircraft in history. He advanced only 50 meters, but this is certainly an important milestone. Other planes capable of flying much farther arrived later. In addition to private aircraft, fighter or cargo aircraft were introduced. Also, little by little, the concept of a passenger aircraft was introduced. However, it was not until 1949 that the first commercial jet aircraft was flown. This is about de Havilland DH. 106 cometa magnificent vehicle, the fleet of which constantly grew until the last aircraft was retired in the 1990s.
Therefore, in the 1950s, commercial aircraft were already quite common. These were very different plans compared to what we can see today, on many levels. And one of them was precisely the existence square or rectangular windows.
Unfortunately, at that time there were two fatal accidents with a very small difference in time. First, in January 1954, ended in the death of 29 passengers and 6 crew members, after the plane crashed off the Italian island of Elba. Later April of the same yearAs a result of the accident off the coast of Naples, 14 passengers and 7 crew members were killed.
company engineers they set about looking for possible explanations for the disaster. Thus, they saw that in both cases the fuselage near the windows of the aircraft seemed to burst. This meant that the metal was subjected to a lot of pressure. And they soon realized why.
Why didn’t this happen before?
Although these aircraft were among the first to operate commercial flights, this vehicle has been in operation for decades. Accidents, of course, were, but the reasons were clearly different. Why, as soon as commercial flights began, did two plane crashes happen so close to each other? The key is in height.
Planes used to fly much lower. However, when they became ordinary means of passenger transport, it was decided to raise them much higher. This mainly happens for two reasons. One side, saves fuel. If the same aircraft was going to make a large number of long-haul flights in a short time, then the less fuel it used, the better. Secondly, managed to avoid turbulence typical of the lower layers of the atmosphere, so passengers would be much more comfortable.
The problem is that this increase meant a big difference in pressure and heavy load on the corners of the window. The aircraft in some cases could not stand it, and these fatal accidents occurred.
At one time, when these accidents were reported, it was said that perhaps the discovery of this improvement in aircraft could be a consolation for the relatives of the victims. It is difficult to say whether any of these people really found solace in this. What is clear is that sometimes you need to make mistakes in order to see the best path forward. The problem arises when these errors become fatal.
Source: Hiper Textual
