Narrative:

While climbing through FL330 our jumpseater directed our attention to my windshield which was sparking on the upper edge. The first officer was flying and asked if he should level off. I said yes and informed ATC of same. I immediately realized we had an issue so asked to descend to FL180. The sparking continued to grow and in fact started a fire in between the panes then continued on down to the lower right edge. After a few minutes there was a loud popping sound and windshield cracked. We had donned our mask right after noticing the issue. [The] first officer pointed to [an airport] on the nd which was to the left and only 60-70 miles away. We [communicated) with ATC and asked to divert to [that airport]. First officer took the radios from me so I could communicate with the flight attendants; passengers and send a message to dispatch. After sending a message with our intention to dispatch; I pulled up the WX [and] set up the FMGC for our approach. We did a quick briefing and first officer continued to fly the approach and make an uneventful landing. After clearing the runway; emergency equipment looked over the aircraft and we proceeded to the gate. Some items standout from our experience: from beginning to the end the cockpit was very busy. I was completely consumed by organizing the diversion and communicating our plan with all involved. The O2 mask was difficult to work with even though both first officer and I are/were very comfortable with donning and familiar with the required radio switches to use. The mask definitely added a dimension to an already challenging environment. The support from ATC; emergency services and the company was outstanding. We did forget to write up the window heat ECAM and windshield cracking while still in the cockpit but the mechanics who met us were already communicating with [maintenance] and I called dispatch after talking to the passengers and debriefing the flight attendants and had phone patch to [maintenance] who confirmed they had the necessary write-ups.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 flight crew reported diverting to a nearby alternate after the Captain's windshield sparked and then shattered.

Narrative: While climbing through FL330 our jumpseater directed our attention to my windshield which was sparking on the upper edge. The First Officer was flying and asked if he should level off. I said yes and informed ATC of same. I immediately realized we had an issue so asked to descend to FL180. The sparking continued to grow and in fact started a fire in between the panes then continued on down to the lower right edge. After a few minutes there was a loud popping sound and windshield cracked. We had donned our mask right after noticing the issue. [The] First Officer pointed to [an airport] on the ND which was to the left and only 60-70 miles away. We [communicated) with ATC and asked to divert to [that airport]. FO took the radios from me so I could communicate with the flight attendants; passengers and send a message to Dispatch. After sending a message with our intention to Dispatch; I pulled up the WX [and] set up the FMGC for our approach. We did a quick briefing and FO continued to fly the approach and make an uneventful landing. After clearing the runway; emergency equipment looked over the aircraft and we proceeded to the gate. Some items standout from our experience: from beginning to the end the cockpit was very busy. I was completely consumed by organizing the diversion and communicating our plan with all involved. The O2 mask was difficult to work with even though both FO and I are/were very comfortable with donning and familiar with the required radio switches to use. The mask definitely added a dimension to an already challenging environment. The support from ATC; emergency services and the company was outstanding. We did forget to write up the window heat ECAM and windshield cracking while still in the cockpit but the mechanics who met us were already communicating with [Maintenance] and I called Dispatch after talking to the passengers and debriefing the flight attendants and had phone patch to [Maintenance] who confirmed they had the necessary write-ups.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.