As they awaited their gate after arrival the flight crew of an erj-170 experienced a shorted windshi...

Narrative:

As we sat with the parking brake set awaiting our gate; the lower windshield metal heat strip on the captain's side had a bright spark that sent flames throughout the inside of the laminated glass in the windshield; instantly sending spider cracks throughout the entire windshield. The flames lasted around 1 to 2 seconds before extinguishing on their own. We immediately deselected windshield heat; and I asked our jumpseater to obtain the fire extinguisher and hold it ready. We ultimately agreed that crash fire rescue equipment assistance was not necessary; but we placed appropriate frequencies in standby in case we needed to call for immediate assistance. After a brief discussion with maintenance we agreed the problem was contained and since I was able to see out the windshield to we taxied to the gate without further event.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: As they awaited their gate after arrival the flight crew of an ERJ-170 experienced a shorted windshield heat event that blazed momentarily and spider webbed the Captain's windshield.

Narrative: As we sat with the parking brake set awaiting our gate; the lower windshield metal heat strip on the Captain's side had a bright spark that sent flames throughout the inside of the laminated glass in the windshield; instantly sending spider cracks throughout the entire windshield. The flames lasted around 1 to 2 seconds before extinguishing on their own. We immediately deselected windshield heat; and I asked our jumpseater to obtain the fire extinguisher and hold it ready. We ultimately agreed that CFR assistance was not necessary; but we placed appropriate frequencies in standby in case we needed to call for immediate assistance. After a brief discussion with Maintenance we agreed the problem was contained and since I was able to see out the windshield to we taxied to the gate without further event.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1057061
Time
Date	201212
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Window Ice/Rain System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

As they awaited their gate after arrival the flight crew of an erj-170 experienced a shorted windshield heat event that blazed momentarily and spider webbed the captain's windshield.