* Damage to the left leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer was noted as well. Investigators found acrylic in the puncture, consistent with a window pane.
And:
* The aircraft remained properly pressurized throughout the flight.
Are not mutually incompatible? (i.e. a window pane hit the tail in flight and somehow the aircraft remained pressurized?)
Without reading the report, the outside pane could have failed and hit the stabilizer while the middle pane continued to hold pressure as expected, therefore no contradiction in the two statements.
This is why the fear that a bullet fired in the airplane will pop it like a balloon is unfounded. Poking a hole in the fuselage won't do anything. A bullet would have to hit and disable something critical (and there's always a backup for critical parts).
In this incident, the outer frame had melted and the outer pane had separated from the rest but the central layer was OK at that point in time.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/what-are-airplane-windows-made...
pressurization of aircraft is not required till 12,500 ft (3810m) so the air pressure differential at 15000 is not likely to be that great.
Well, no. I don't think cabin altitude for passenger airliners has ever been that high, so you need pressurization much lower than that (typically starting around 6000 ft for modern aircraft).
Edit: Even the Boeing 307 Stratoliner was pressurized to 8000 ft.
And, I mean, think about it - there are _towns_ at 9k+ feet.