Boeing B757-200 N624AA

Summary

On 31 January 2008 at about 01:22 local time, a Boeing B757-200 registered N624AA, operated by American Airlines Commercial Flight Operations, was involved in an incident near West Palm Beach, Florida, United States. 146 people were on board and 6 had minor injuries. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 January 2008 at 01:22

Classification

Incident

Location

West Palm Beach, Florida, United States

Coordinates

26.6831, -80.0956

Aircraft

Boeing B757-200

Registration

N624AA

Category

Airplane

Operator

American Airlines Commercial Flight Operations

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Juan → Philadelphia

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ENG08IA011

6 people had minor injuries.

the arcing of the windshield heat system at the upper, aft (J1) and upper, forward (J4) terminal locations on the first officer's windshield, which caused the inner pane of glass to fracture.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During cruise flight the crew experienced smoke in the cockpit, none of it coming from an obvious place, followed by the fracture of the inner pane of the first officer's windshield. They declared an emergency and diverted the airplane to a local airport where an uneventful landing was made. Examination of the widow revealed evidence of arcing at the upper, aft (J1) and upper, forward (J4) windshield heat terminal locations and inner pane fracture initiation beneath the upper, forward (J4) terminal block. The initiation point for the arcing at both terminal locations could not be identified due to the damage sustained.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.