Emergency services were requested at Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW) after an incident with a dimmable passenger window on an LOT Polish airlines 787 Dreamliner flight. 

Flight LO 98 was operating from Seoul to Warsaw on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, registration SP-LRA, on January 4, 2022. The aircraft was descending towards Warsaw when the crew noticed a burning odor on board and asked for emergency services to be on standby for landing. 

The crew then declared Mayday and the flight continued for a safe landing on runway 11. After landing the crew inspected the aircraft and noticed that one of the dimmable passenger windows in the 787’s economy section showed signs of burning.

A photograph obtained by The Aviation Herald shows the interior of the passenger window, which appears to have started to melt and shows notable signs of burn damage. 

The 787 Dreamliner’s windows are made up of two pieces of glass with a special gel sandwiched in between. The gel has an electric current running through it, which increases or decreases based on the dimming setting selected by the passenger.

787 Dreamliner window Image source: Thut Vongoradit / Shutterstock.com

According to The Aviation Herald’s incident report, the aircraft returned to service 22 hours after landing. 

AeroTime has reached out to LOT Polish Airlines and Boeing for statements regarding the incident.