When it comes to airplane windows, it’s not about being square.
The shape of airplane windows may seem arbitrary, but there’s actually a dark reason behind their design, according to aviation experts.
They made them round to keep us safe and sound.
In a TikTok video with over 2 million views, American Airlines pilot Captain Steve explained that the rounded-edged portals were installed in the 1950s after a series of in-flight disasters caused by their rectangular counterparts.
“Some of the planes were designed with square windows, and in Europe, as planes started to climb higher and required more pressure, they discovered a problem,” the flyboy explained.
He added that “they lost a few planes in the air” because the square shape of the windows created “a hairline crack” around the edge due to stress on the airframe.
When enough of these cracks formed, the captain explained, the plane literally “took apart” due to decompression.
To prevent these dreaded in-flight accidents, engineers rounded the window frames so they wouldn’t break under the strain — and they’ve “never had a problem since,” according to the pilot.
Viewers were relieved to hear the reasoning behind this seemingly trivial design choice.
“That makes a lot of sense,” said one commenter, while another wrote: “Thanks for the explanation! The more I know, the easier it is to fly.”
“I’m a terrified flight passenger!” agreed a third. “But after looking at yours [TikToks]Captain Steve, I wasn’t that terrified last week on my flights. Thank you!”
Captain Steve did not mention the incidents by name, but some viewers assumed he was referring to the UK’s ill-fated de Havilland Comet 1, which experienced a spate of in-flight breakups between 1953 and 1954, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
After examining wreckage from some of the crashes, flight forensics experts concluded that “the relatively flat windshields were creating much higher stress concentrations than expected.
“These stress concentrations fatigued the material around the corners of the window, which would quickly lead to a fuselage rupture,” the FAA wrote.
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Image Source : nypost.com