An Austrian Airlines plane en route from Spain to Austria was severely damaged after flying through a thunderstorm on Sunday.
“An Airbus A320 sustained hail damage on yesterday’s flight OS434 from Palma de Mallorca to Vienna,” the airline said in a statement to CNN on Monday.
“The aircraft got stuck in a thunderstorm cell on approach to Vienna, which according to the cockpit crew was not visible on weather radar,” Austrian Airlines said, adding that the pilots made an emergency call during the flight.
According to the airline, the plane's two front cockpit windows, the nose, and some panels were “damaged by hail,” according to CNN. All 173 passengers and six crew members were unharmed and landed safely in Vienna.
Pictures circulating on social media show the extent of the damage to the plane. Along with much of the plane's nose peeling off, the plane's front cockpit windows appear to have been shattered as well.
When you send four of your best friends out and they end up being “attacked” by the cold, you lose half the front of the cockpit and have their front windows blown out before arriving. #OS434 Palma to Vienna. So glad you all arrived on Earth – alive. Thanks #Austrian #aua #Airlines pic.twitter.com/SHOUsUY5Wg
– Exithamster (@exithamster) June 9, 2024
Emily Oakley, a passenger on the flight, told ABC News that the plane encountered a “cloud of hail and thunderstorms” when it was “about 20 minutes away from landing.”
“We definitely felt the hailstones falling on the plane, and it was very loud and very rocky for a minute,” Oakley said. “We didn't notice the nose of the plane was missing until after we got out! The pilots really did an excellent job of keeping things as smooth and safe as possible.”
Austrian Airlines said in a statement to Fox Business that its technical team was “tasked with assessing the specific damage to the aircraft.”
The company added, “The safety of our passengers and crew is the highest priority.”
Representatives for Austrian Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside normal business hours.
This accident comes after several flights were subjected to severe turbulence last month.
On May 20, a Singapore Airlines flight traveling from London to Singapore was flying over southern Myanmar when turbulence sent the plane plummeting 178 feet in four seconds.
A 73-year-old passenger died of a suspected heart attack, and dozens of passengers were injured in the crash.
A Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin experienced a similar problem a few days later, on May 26. Six passengers and six crew members were injured when the plane encountered turbulence while flying over Türkiye.
