A few days ago TAP207, an Airbus A330, was cruising over the Atlantic at FL390 enroute to KEWR. They were about 2 hours into the flight when the pilot-side windshield developed a crack. The flight crew decided to turn around and go back to Lisbon which makes sense. But apparently they continued back to Lisbon at FL390 with a cracked windshield. So, I'm just wondering, doesn't a crack in the windshield affect the integrity of that windshield? Wouldn't there be a greater risk of the windshield failing completely because of the pressure differential at that altitude? Obviously the crew knew it was no issue or else they would have descended to a lower altitude. Just wondering....
Ron
