Fear of flying is a fairly widespread phobia, and for those who share this aversion to air travel, you may want to stop reading now. One brave traveler shared footage of his plane window coming loose from the aircraft during a recent flight over Chile, reminding us how vulnerable we are at 3,000 feet in the air.
The short footage was shared by Imgur user OctopussSevenTwo and shows the passenger casually peeling back the window from the plane, The Indy100 reported. The clip is accompanied by the simple phrase "Should I be concerned or...?"
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The passenger had taken a low-cost airline, and his plane ticket was only about $30. Still, he did not expect the plane to begin to fall apart while it was still in the air.
"The window was totally off its frame," the passenger who took the footage told The Daily Mail. "I found it funny and recorded the video with my cellphone."
Patrick Smith, airline pilot and host of askthepilot.com, said the damage was not a concern or a danger to the airplane passengers. "It's just a superficial liner that helps protect the actual window. I admit that it looks embarrassing and unprofessional, but there's no safety risk," Smith told The Daily Mail.
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Plane seats usually have three windowpanes. The first window that we see come loose in the video is called the scratch pane, according to Science Alert. This pane is simply made to protect the middle pane and the outer panes from scratches and damage. It also helps to minimize the outside sounds that make it into the internal cabin, allowing passengers to have a more relaxing flight experience. The two outer panes are the most important panes, as these are the panes that actually protect passengers from the pressure of the outside world.
The odds of a plane crash are at one for every 1.2 million flights, with odds of dying one in 11 million.
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