Narrative:

While descending; we heard a loud pop; and got an 'left window heat' caution message. The left side window had shattered. The first officer was flying the arrival; I completed the QRH and contacted dispatch and maintenance control. Pressurization was normal and the differential was at 4.2 psi; below the QRH number of 6.2. I believe the first officer advised ATC that we would be slowing to 250 KTS earlier than the expected for the crossing clearance. After finishing the QRH and talking with company. I told ATC we would need 205 KTS below 8;000 ft per QRH and explained the problem. They asked if I needed to declare an emergency; I said no; as long as the speed wasn't a problem. We were given vectors for the runway. All regular checklist and procedures were completed normally. The first officer made a normal approach and landing. I had visibility out the side window so we proceeded to the gate. As a side note the flight attendants and passengers were not notified of the event. This is actually my second shattered window in 16 years. The first was my forward window as an first officer maybe in 1995. I also was a passenger years ago when it happened to a crew and they called me up to the cockpit. Both of those events took place before there was a QRH procedure. So the event was not as alarming too me. Secondly; I had just finished recurrent ground school last month; where this event and checklist were presented and discussed. The recent review had helped; otherwise I might have missed the fact that there was a QRH procedure specific to the window; other than the window heat caution message. Also knowing that the caution message most likely meant it was an inter-core that failed; and the window integrity was still solid. Recurrent training also presented the fact that no window had ever completely failed from an event like this.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ-500 Captain reported the failure of his forward cockpit window in descent. QRH procedures were followed as well as a normal landing.

Narrative: While descending; we heard a loud pop; and got an 'L window heat' caution message. The left side window had shattered. The First Officer was flying the arrival; I completed the QRH and contacted Dispatch and Maintenance Control. Pressurization was normal and the differential was at 4.2 PSI; below the QRH number of 6.2. I believe the First Officer advised ATC that we would be slowing to 250 KTS earlier than the expected for the crossing clearance. After finishing the QRH and talking with company. I told ATC we would need 205 KTS below 8;000 FT per QRH and explained the problem. They asked if I needed to declare an emergency; I said no; as long as the speed wasn't a problem. We were given vectors for the runway. All regular checklist and procedures were completed normally. The First Officer made a normal approach and landing. I had visibility out the side window so we proceeded to the gate. As a side note the Flight Attendants and passengers were not notified of the event. This is actually my second shattered window in 16 years. The first was my forward window as an First Officer maybe in 1995. I also was a passenger years ago when it happened to a crew and they called me up to the cockpit. Both of those events took place before there was a QRH Procedure. So the event was not as alarming too me. Secondly; I had just finished recurrent ground school last month; where this event and checklist were presented and discussed. The recent review had helped; otherwise I might have missed the fact that there was a QRH procedure specific to the window; other than the window heat caution message. Also knowing that the caution message most likely meant it was an inter-core that failed; and the window integrity was still solid. Recurrent training also presented the fact that no window had ever completely failed from an event like this.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.