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RED TAPE, WHITE LIES
Why are the passenger windows on aircraft so small?
Would it not reduce the feeling of claustrophobia and
thereby make air travel more comfortable if the windows
were larger?
Donal Donnelly-Wood, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Windows on aircraft are small to maximise the areas of
hull between them, to increase the strength of the air
frame. The air frame would be stongest if the hull had no
windows. Large windows were the cause of the loss of
several De Havilland Comets (the world's first, UK built,
commercial jet aircraft) as the strain put on the hull due to
pressurisation caused metal fatigue in the slim areas of
hull between windows, leading to at least two
catastrophic ruptures at altitude.
Andrew Gregg, Luton, Bedfordshire
Any discontinuity in the skin of the aircraft compromises
its strength and potentially complicates the airflow. Big
windows make weak fuselages - they were contributory
to a series of disastrous crashes in the DH Comet airliner
and resulted in the USA gaining the lead in civil aircraft
design. Manufacturers would very much rather give us
nothing at all, so think yourself lucky that we have what
we have.
Mick Burmeister, Stratford-on-Avon, UK
In addition to the 'fuselage strength' answers already
given, there is another important reason. The designers
have to allow for the possibility of a window blowing out
at cruising altitude. Anybody sitting next to the blown out
window will be sucked out of the plane, no matter how
small the aperture. However, for the rest of the
occupants, life depends on sufficient air pressure being
maintained in the cabin to enable breathing; even with
oxgen masks, humans cannot breath in the very low
pressure at airliner cruising altitudes. The crew have to
bring the aeroplane down to around 10,000 feet before
the outside air pressure allows normal breathing, and this
can take several minutes. If the windows on planes were
larger than they are at the moment, more cabin pressure
would escape through the hole during the descent, to the
extent that the cabin would become a lethal environment
before the 10,000 foot survival level was reached.
Concorde's windows were particularly small because it
cruised much higher (60,000 feet) than conventional
airliners (40,000 feet), and would therefore take longer to
descend to survivable outside pressure levels.
Vince Chadwick, Wilmslow, Cheshire
As the biggest percent of passengers have no access to
them thy could be done away with making the plane
easier to construct stronger and faster more' fuel efficient.
james stewart, glasgow strathclyde
I think the first two answers are a bit mixed up I studied
the comet airliners and yes you are correct they did fail
from metal fatigue but it was because the windows were
riveted in rather than drilled and fastened. the small crack
created from riveting caused the passenger cabin area to
simply rip open. I have more information if anyone wants
but I can't remember the failures being contributed to the
window size but was because of riveting.
aftab thakur, birmingham united kingdom
Thank you Aftab for putting the record straight. In fact, if
my recollection is correct of the forensic metallurgical
work carried out, the riveting was a contributing factor
weakening the structure, the major root cause was that
the windows were originally square and the corners acted
as stress raisers. The fatigue cracks started at the
corners and progressed into the hull. This is the reason
that since then no aircraft has windows with sharp
corners, but are round, oval, ovoid and so on - all smooth
lines.
Tim Thexton, Exeter United Kingdom
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Why are the passenger windows on aircraft so small? Would it not redu... http://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-43290,00...
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