An air carrier flight crew return to their takeoff airport when a leak in the first officer's window pressure seal causes a loud squeal that interfered with ATC communication. Overweight landing. Widebody transport.

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Attributes
ACN	343802
Time
Date	199608
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : lon
State Reference	FO
Altitude	msl bound lower : 26000 msl bound upper : 26000
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : egtt
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : flight engineer pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 160 flight time total : 10000 flight time type : 1000
ASRS Report	343802
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : overcame equipment problem other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Pressure seal leak on first officer window caused loud squeal. It caused problem with ATC communications. Elected to return to london. At lower levels the noise subsided and no special ATC handling was required, so I did not declare an ATC emergency. Following company policy, I elected to land overweight using my captain's emergency authority/authorized. The aircraft has no fuel dump capacity, so it would have taken about 3 hours of holding to burn fuel. With a window seal problem, it seemed better to get on the ground. There were no subsequent problems.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR FLC RETURN TO THEIR TKOF ARPT WHEN A LEAK IN THE FO'S WINDOW PRESSURE SEAL CAUSES A LOUD SQUEAL THAT INTERFERED WITH ATC COM. OVERWT LNDG. WDB.

Narrative: PRESSURE SEAL LEAK ON FO WINDOW CAUSED LOUD SQUEAL. IT CAUSED PROB WITH ATC COMS. ELECTED TO RETURN TO LONDON. AT LOWER LEVELS THE NOISE SUBSIDED AND NO SPECIAL ATC HANDLING WAS REQUIRED, SO I DID NOT DECLARE AN ATC EMER. FOLLOWING COMPANY POLICY, I ELECTED TO LAND OVERWT USING MY CAPT'S EMER AUTH. THE ACFT HAS NO FUEL DUMP CAPACITY, SO IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ABOUT 3 HRS OF HOLDING TO BURN FUEL. WITH A WINDOW SEAL PROB, IT SEEMED BETTER TO GET ON THE GND. THERE WERE NO SUBSEQUENT PROBS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.