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Woman stunned by ‘smashed’ plane window

A woman was shocked to find she was sitting next to a “smashed” plane window during her flight.

A woman was shocked to find she was sitting next to a “smashed” plane window during her flight.

Thankfully all was not as it seemed – although some people said they would still be terrified.

The video was originally posted by Instagram user Mia Carouba.

In the video, she zoomed in on the pane which was shattered, with a “hole” in the window.

It then panned back to her looking shocked, covering her mouth with her hand, The Sun reports.

The video has since been shared by Instagram account Barstoolsports with more than 200,000 people ‘liking’ the video.

One person said: “THAT’S MY NIGHTMARE!”

Another person said: “New fear unlocked.”

A woman posted a video of a ‘smashed’ window pane. Picture: Instagram
A woman posted a video of a ‘smashed’ window pane. Picture: Instagram

Thankfully, she wasn’t actually in danger, as most plane windows have two or three panes, so it was only the inner pane that was broken.

This means she wouldn’t have been sucked out of the window as the cabin wouldn’t have depressurised.

And most people in the Instagram comments knew this too.

Someone who works in aviation explained this: “Aircraft passenger windows are built out of multiple layers of glass and/or acrylic.

Passenger Mia shared the video on Instagram. Picture: Instagram
Passenger Mia shared the video on Instagram. Picture: Instagram

“This is not the pressurised portion of the window. This is simply a cosmetic piece of plastic, this will not depressurise aircraft.

“A lot of people lean against the plastic portion, this one happened to reach its end and broke.

“The only danger here is if the passenger were to accidentally cut themselves on that plastic; there is no danger to flight safety.”

Most people explained why the broken window wasn’t a flight safety risk. Picture: Instagram
Most people explained why the broken window wasn’t a flight safety risk. Picture: Instagram

Earlier this year, pilot Harrison Murray revealed how long people can survive in a plane if a window smashes during a flight.

He explained that there would be rapid depressurisation, as the cabin rushes to equalise conditions inside the cabin with conditions outside.

He said that passengers only have between 30 and 90 seconds of useful consciousness where they will need to put their oxygen masks on.

According to Air And Space magazine, every plane that flies above 15,000 feet must carry at least 10 minutes of oxygen per passenger.

Pilots would then need to descend the plane very quickly to a height where the masks are no longer needed.

If passengers are unable to put an oxygen mask on before they lose consciousness, it is unlikely they will survive.

In 1990, a British Airways pilot was sucked out of the cockpit mid-flight – and miraculously survived.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/woman-stunned-by-smashed-plane-window/news-story/1e2ed567460e20ef562451837eb27fc5