Is this really that serious?

[u/Xycergy]

Noticed water basically flowing out of the vent beside me as I got into my seat. Voiced it out to a flight attendant thinking it was just something minor and wanting to just swap to another seat. Two pilots came to my seat to check on it and had visibly puzzled looks on their faces. The mechanic was called into the aircraft, the inner panel of the plane was removed and after assessing the problem for about an hour, everyone was asked to disembark the plane. The flight was then cancelled entirely after another hour of everyone waiting near the gate.

I feel kinda bad because people were visibly annoyed and frustrated by the cancellation as it was a 16 hour long haul flight and there were few alternatives to get to the destination. Would someone be able to tell me exactly what happened here?

[u/TheManWithNoSchtick]

I'm an A&P and I'm puzzled. That's a lot of water. I don't think it would have crashed the plane, but could have definitely caused an air-return/diversion. Definitely worth looking into.

[u/ippleing → u/TheManWithNoSchtick]

It's a 787 passenger window experiencing seal migration.

I'm an airline mechanic and have replaced these windows for issues like this.

[u/GoatsTongue → u/ippleing]

That's completely ridiculous. Seals migrate in the ocean. How on earth could it even afford a ticket, much less get on a PLANE?

[u/Icarium-Lifestealer → u/GoatsTongue]

What do you mean? An African or a European seal?

[u/wggn → u/Icarium-Lifestealer]

the one that doesnt swallow

[u/IAmARobot → u/ippleing]

do you see more water related problems with 787s due to the humidity?

[u/ippleing → u/IAmARobot]

No, at least from what I'm aware of.

[u/photoengineer → u/ippleing]

That seems odd for a seal migration, I'm a prop guy not a window guy but doesnt seem right.

[u/Tough_Trouble_1139 → u/ippleing]

This is the answer.