Hail damage

[coxyhog]

An Austrian Airlines passenger jet suffered heavy damage flying through a hail storm, pictures have revealed.

The aircraft, an Airbus A320-200, had its nosecone smashed away and its cockpit windows left almost opaque when it was battered by hailstones, pictures show.

The pilots made a mayday call – an emergency broadcast to air traffic controllers – as a result of the damage, Austrian Airlines said.

Flight number OS434 was between the Spanish island of Palma de Mallorca and Vienna on Sunday June 9 when it encountered a “thunderstorm cell”, the spokesman said.

[Butch]

Pic looks odd but it is a genuine , verified event, must have been scary for the pilots.

Damage to the localised area of the cone and the screens but nowhere else. Surely the hail and paint damage would be evident below the screens between them and the cone ?.

Maybe different paint depths as the cones are seperate?. I've no idea.

 

Edited June 11 by Butch

[forcebwithu]

3 hours ago, Butch said:

Pic looks odd but it is a genuine , verified event, must have been scary for the pilots.

Damage to the localised area of the cone and the screens but nowhere else. Surely the hail and paint damage would be evident below the screens between them and the cone ?.

Maybe different paint depths as the cones are seperate?. I've no idea.

Airflow over the fuselage probably kept the hail from impacting that area.

[Freee!!]

4 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Airflow over the fuselage probably kept the hail from impacting that area.

More like the (relatively thin) plastic of the cone and the (outer layer of the) glass of the windows are more susceptible to impact damage than the metal in between.