UV in the cockpit: what windscreens block and pilot melanoma risk
Checked against the sources below on 29 October 2026. How these guides are written
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Cockpit windscreens block almost all UV-B but can let UV-A through, and how much depends on the glazing and on direct sun through side windows. In the 2015 JAMA Dermatology study, 56.6 minutes at 30,000 ft behind a turboprop's acrylic windscreen gave the same carcinogen-weighted UV-A as a 20-minute tanning-bed session. A 2025 study of 15 A320/A321s found every front windscreen blocked UV-A, while some side and rear windows did not. Meta-analyses put pilots' melanoma incidence at about twice the general population's.
- UV-B through windscreens
- Blocked: zero UV-B readings; no significant UV-B dose
- In flight
- Sanlorenzo 2015; Chorley 2016
- UV-A through windscreens
- Varies by glazing: A320/A321 front screens blocked it; some side and rear screens passed UV-A above about 350 nm
- 15 aircraft, 39 flights
- Emslie et al. 2025
- Altitude effect
- UV rises 10 to 12% per 1,000 m; 2 to 3 times ground level at 10,000 m
- Outside the aircraft
- Chorley et al. 2014
- Tanning-bed comparison
- 56.6 min at 30,000 ft = UV-A of a 20-min tanning session
- One turboprop, acrylic screen, April midday
- Sanlorenzo et al. 2015
- Melanoma in pilots
- Incidence ratio 2.22 (95% CI 1.67 to 2.93); mortality ratio 1.83
- 19 studies
- Sanlorenzo meta-analysis 2015
- Updated meta-analysis
- Melanoma incidence ratio 2.03 (1.71 to 2.40); other skin cancers 1.86
- 12 studies, data mostly 1970s to 1990s
- Miura et al. 2019
- Australian pilots
- Melanoma in situ ratio 1.39 (1.08 to 1.78); invasive 1.20 (0.89 to 1.55)
- 2011 to 2016
- Olsen et al. 2019
Do cockpit windows block UV?
They block UV-B. Sanlorenzo and colleagues recorded zero UV-B at every altitude, and a UK CAA study of airline and offshore helicopter flights found no significant UV-B dose (Chorley et al., 2016). UV-A, the longer wavelengths from 315 to 400 nm, is a different story, and the glazing decides it.
Chorley's team found the windscreens fell into two profiles. In aircraft with good UV-A blocking, eye exposure matched an office; in most aircraft they assessed, the windscreens blocked UV-A poorly and the unprotected eye exceeded international guideline limits, by 4.5 to 6.5 times on one flight. A German Aerospace Center study of several windscreens found only one with good UV-A attenuation (Schennetten et al., 2019). Cadilhac and colleagues measured 14 flights and found no UV-A in Airbus cockpits but measurable UV-A in Boeing 777 cockpits, cut more than tenfold by the sun visors (2017).
The newest data come from New Zealand. Emslie and colleagues (Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, 2025) measured all six windscreens in 15 A320/A321s over 39 flights. Every front windscreen blocked UV-A; several side and rear windows passed UV-A above about 350 nm. Scattered light added little, but direct sun through a poorly blocking window gave UV-A1 irradiance of up to 2.29 mW/cm² on exposed skin, and the side window blinds stopped it.
The tanning-bed study and its limits
The 2015 JAMA Dermatology research letter by Sanlorenzo and colleagues measured UV in a Socata TBM850 turboprop through a 1.6 cm acrylic windscreen, around midday in April over San Jose and Las Vegas. UV-A at the pilot seat rose from 127 µW/cm² on the ground at Las Vegas to about 242 µW/cm² at 30,000 ft. Weighted for carcinogenic effect, the authors calculated that 56.6 minutes at 30,000 ft matched a 20-minute UV-A tanning session.
That result is for one aircraft, one windscreen material and clear midday sun, and the authors asked for measurements in more aircraft. Airliner studies since then show a wider spread. Baczynska and colleagues (2020) measured 322 short-haul A320/A321 flights from the UK: the erythema-weighted dose never exceeded 0.1 standard erythema dose, UV-A was low on most flights, and on 27 sectors UV-A could have exceeded ICNIRP guidance for the eyes without eye protection.
Do pilots get more skin cancer?
Two meta-analyses say pilots get melanoma at about twice the general population's rate. Sanlorenzo's 2015 analysis of 19 studies gave a pooled incidence ratio of 2.22 for pilots and a mortality ratio of 1.83. Miura and colleagues (British Journal of Dermatology, 2019) pooled 12 studies for an incidence ratio of 2.03, a mortality ratio of 1.99 and 1.86 for other skin cancers, but most of the data were collected between the 1970s and 1990s.
Newer and better-controlled data point away from the cockpit. A UK cohort of 16,329 flight crew found melanoma raised (ratio 1.87) but also raised in air traffic controllers (2.66), with no difference between the two groups; skin that burns easily and sunbathing were the strongest predictors (dos Santos Silva et al., 2013). In Australian commercial pilots from 2011 to 2016, melanoma in situ was modestly raised and invasive melanoma was not (Olsen et al., 2019).
What cuts UV on the flight deck?
The measurements agree that direct sun through a window is the main source and shading removes most of it. Cadilhac found the visors cut UV-A more than tenfold, Emslie found the side window blinds blocked it, and Schennetten found the visor very effective. Emslie's team recommends sunscreen on skin in the direct beam and visors on the side windows; Chorley's team recommends sunglasses and a labelling system so pilots know how well each type's windscreen blocks UV-A.
UV-A also rises with altitude and with reflection off cloud and snow, which Sanlorenzo's team flagged but did not measure. For a skin check, talk to your GP or a dermatologist; for your eyes, an optometrist.
Mistakes pilots make
- Quoting the tanning-bed line as if it applied to every airliner. It came from one turboprop with an acrylic windscreen; airliner front screens vary from good to poor UV-A blocking.
- Assuming the windscreen stops all UV. It stops UV-B; UV-A gets through some glazing, mostly side and rear windows in direct sun.
- Reading the twofold melanoma figure as proof that cockpit UV causes it. The UK cohort found the same excess in air traffic controllers and linked it to leisure sun.
- Forgetting your eyes. In aircraft with poor UV-A blocking, unprotected eye exposure exceeded international guideline limits in flight.
What Off Chocks tracks
- With Health turned on, Off Chocks gives each daytime flight a relative cockpit UV-A index: it walks the route in 5-minute steps, counts only samples with the sun above the horizon, and weights them by sun elevation and the type's cruise altitude. Night and red-eye sectors add nothing.
- It cannot know your windscreen or whether the sun was on your side window, which the studies show matter most, so the index is a trend and a route-by-route comparison. It is not a dose, a limit or the public UV index, and it can under-read low-level or open-cockpit flying.
Common questions
- Do cockpit windows block UV?
- They block UV-B. UV-A blocking varies by aircraft and window: the A320/A321 front screens in the 2025 study blocked it, while some side and rear windows did not.
- Is flying an hour like using a tanning bed?
- In one 2015 study, 56.6 minutes at 30,000 ft in a turboprop with an acrylic windscreen matched a 20-minute UV-A tanning session. Most airliner studies since measured less.
- Do pilots get more melanoma?
- Meta-analyses give about twice the general population's incidence, mostly from 1970s to 1990s data. A UK cohort found the same excess in air traffic controllers.
- Is UV stronger at cruise altitude?
- Yes. UV rises about 10 to 12% per 1,000 m and is 2 to 3 times ground level near 10,000 m (Chorley et al., 2014), before the windscreen filters it.
- Do sun visors help?
- Yes. Visors cut cockpit UV-A more than tenfold in one study, and side window blinds blocked it in another.
Sources
- Sanlorenzo M et al. The risk of melanoma in pilots and cabin crew: UV measurements in flying airplanes. JAMA Dermatol 2015
- Sanlorenzo M et al. The risk of melanoma in airline pilots and cabin crew: a meta-analysis. JAMA Dermatol 2015
- Emslie NA et al. Pilot ultraviolet A exposures in the cockpit of flying commercial aircraft. Aerosp Med Hum Perform 2025
- Chorley AC et al. Occupational ocular UV exposure in civilian aircrew. Aerosp Med Hum Perform 2016
- Miura K et al. Do airline pilots and cabin crew have raised risks of melanoma and other skin cancers? Br J Dermatol 2019
- dos Santos Silva I et al. Cancer incidence in professional flight crew and air traffic control officers. Int J Cancer 2013
This is general information from the published research and regulators, not medical advice. For your own situation, ask your aviation medical examiner, an occupational physician or your operator's radiation protection officer. Any estimate in Off Chocks is for your own awareness, not a dosimeter reading.