ROUND AIRPLANE WINDOWS - When planes were introduced in the world they were not as fast as they fly today. They used to have square or rectangular shaped windows. As aerospace technology advanced, airplanes began flying at higher altitudes with higher speeds. In 1953, two airplanes fell apart during flight which resulted in 56 casualties. It was concluded that the reason for the crash was the rectangle shaped airplane windows. During flight, there can be any corner in the fuselage that can become a weak spot. This weak spot eventually becomes a potential danger as it can cause a mechanical failure and put the lives of people in peril. Stress can develop due to change in atmospheric pressure, wind pressure and other factors.

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Round Airplane Windows

Why All Airplane Windows Round Not Square Or Rectangle?

engineeringinsider

Have you ever thought about the reason behind the circular shape of the windows in an airplane?

Have you also thought about the window shape not being square or rectangular, just like in our cars or in other vehicles?

If yes, then here you will get to know why airplane windows are round and not square in shape.

Airplane windows were not made curved initially:

Initially, when planes were introduced in the world they were not as fast as they fly today. Therefore, they used to have square or rectangular shaped windows.

As the aerospace technology advanced with time, airplanes began flying at higher altitudes with higher speeds.

As a result of this, in the year 1953, two airplanes fell apart during flight which resulted in 56 casualties.

After their investigation was done, it was concluded that the reason for the crash was the rectangle shaped airplane windows.

How did the rectangular shaped window cause a crash?

In an airplane, during the flight, there can be any corner in the fuselage that can become a weak spot.

This weak spot eventually becomes a potential danger as it can cause a mechanical failure and put the lives of people in peril.

The question arises here is that how do we get to know that there is a weak spot at a particular point?

It can be explained as – there are some points that can be crushed under the stress which is induced in fuselage during a flight.

This stress can develop due to change in atmospheric pressure, wind pressure and other factors.

For a manufacturer of an airplane, they won’t need any weak spot on the fuselage and hence try to minimize or eliminate it.

A square or rectangular shaped airplane window has four corners that are four different independent weak spots.

There are many windows in an airplane, thus there are many different sites that can break or give way to potential danger in extreme atmospheric conditions.

This can result in severe devastation to an airplane and the passengers present in it, even if any one side of a window breaks.

The problem of a weak spot is not only related to the square or rectangular shaped window.

Any shape that has corners can break under extreme stress conditions and eventually result in an accident. 

Therefore, the use of a circular shaped window is preferred as its shape distributes the stress evenly over its area and reduces the chance of them falling apart.

Hitherto, you were unaware of the circular shape of planes’ window but now you are mindful of the right answer.

So whenever a person questions you about the unique shape of a window, you may confidently respond to them with this answer.

Well, that might seldom happen, but it is good to know.

https://engineeringinsider.org/airplane-windows-round-square/