Unknown Travel Facts: Why Airplane Windows Are Round

It’s not just about a nice design; it’s the result of many tough lessons learned through aviation history.

When most travelers think about airplane windows, they usually think of the classic question: window seat or aisle? (For someone like me, it’s always the window.) But there’s another small detail about airplane windows that often goes unnoticed: the shape of the window.

Airplane windows are round. While that curved look might seem like a design choice to make planes look nice, you might wonder why they aren’t square. Wouldn’t square windows provide passengers a bigger and better view? 

Coming from an US Air Force background, I’ve thought a lot about this topic and found many answers, but also many new questions. To clear my doubts and be sure about everything, I want someone who can explain it all in detail. To get the real answer, we asked many specialists, and according to most of them, we have found a very important reason for the round windows. It’s not about looks; it’s about safety. The design comes from lessons learned during a dark time in aviation history, and this simple change has made flying much safer in today’s time. 

Keep reading because in this blog we will discuss “Why Airplane Windows Are Round.” 

How Airplane Windows Used to Look Before They Became Round

In the early days of commercial aircraft design, airplane windows were not round, not cylindrical, but square. The reason behind this was simple: it made manufacturing and installation much easier. At that time no one understood the hidden danger that came with the square window. 

Why did airlines stop using square windows?

A series of major airplane crashes made the aviation industry take a closer look at the problem. Within just one year, three De Havilland Comet jets operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation met with tragic accidents, one after takeoff from Calcutta, India, in May 1953. Another off the coast of Italy in January 1954 and a third in April 1954 after leaving Rome. 

Later investigation showed that the aircraft’s fuselage broke apart because of cabin pressure building up around cracks that started from the shared corners of the square windows. 

Why Are Modern Airplane Windows Round?

The simple answer is NO, round windows are stronger and less likely to crack. After the crashes in the 1950s, airplane windows were redesigned with rounded edges to reduce stress at the corners and stop fatigue cracks from forming. 

Airplane windows are round for the same reason that windows in spaceships, submarines, and deep-sea vessels are round: to spread out the pressure evenly and lower the chance of tiny cracks turning into big fractures. 

How do rounded windows prevent this problem?

Sharp corners face higher stress than rounder corners when the structure they’re part of is exposed to outside forces, such as the pressure that builds up inside a sealed airplane cabin. This is the main reason why, in nearly all types of structural design, sharp corners are rounded or curved. Doing so helps reduce stress and make the structure stronger and more durable. 

In an airplane’s fuselage, which constantly experiences cycles of pressurization and depressurization during every flight, even the smallest crack can slowly grow and spread over time. Long-term exposure to high-stress contact increases the speed at which the material weakens. 

If one of these cracks becomes large enough to break through the fuselage, it can cause rapid cabin depressurization. When this happens, the airplane may lose its structural shape and strength. The imbalance can lead to an implosion that damages the aircraft’s body, making it unable to maintain flights properly. In the end this loss of control can cause the aircraft to crash. 

Are there any other practical or visual benefits to rounded windows?

Not really. The round shape isn’t meant to give passengers better views or add beauty; it’s mainly about making sure everyone reaches their destination safely. In fact, rounded windows actually make aircraft manufacturing more expensive because their design is more complex and harder to produce. 

However, safety always comes first. Passengers usually can’t tell the difference between square, slightly rounder, or fully round windows. What truly matters is that the rounded design of the windows keeps the aircraft strong and safe during flight. 

So with this we will end this blog. I hope you like it, and you know now why aircraft windows are round and not of any other shape. If you want to read more such informative articles, visit Travel Till You Drop!!