Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Denver Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado 80249
Friday, February 16, 2007 12:35 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the captain, the airplane had just departed and was making a turn to a heading of 270 degrees when they noticed the first officer's windshield cracking and beginning to arc. The captain alerted Air Traffic Control that they were returning to the airport and noticed that his windshield was also cracking, but not arcing. The first officer's windscreen stopped arcing and the flight crew landed the airplane without further incident. During the course of the afternoon, 14 airplanes experienced 26 fractured windshields. One flight crew reported that during the landing roll they "heard a loud thump" and observed the first officer's window "spider web." They did not observe anything impacting the windscreen. Another flight crew reported taxiing through "dirt and dust being blown around." Examination of the windshields revealed that the impact markings on all 26 windshields were the result of impact with foreign object debris (FOD). No pre-impact anomalies were noted with any of the windshields. Winds at the time of the event were reported as 280 degrees to 030 degrees with sustained winds between 28 and 36 knots. Wind gusts as high as 44 knots were recorded.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fracturing of the aircraft windscreens due to impact with foreign object debris. Contributing to the event was the high, gusty surface winds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 2/16/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1235 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Denver |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80249 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395150N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044000W |
| Event Location Airport | DENVER INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DEN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5342 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1239 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KDEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5342 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 28 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 36 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21597 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Denver FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 16 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2007 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N927FR |
| NTSB Number | DEN07IA069 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Airbus Industrie |
| Aircraft Model | A319-111 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2209 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 9950 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | International Lease Finance Corp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10250 Constellation Blvd 34th Flr |
| Aircraft Owner City | Los Angeles |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90067 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Frontier Airlines |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Denver |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80239 |
| Operator Code | FRAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DEN |
| Departure City | Denver |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SFO |
| Destination City | SAN FRANCISCO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 23 2007 10:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34L |
| Runway Length | 16000 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |