A flight from Palma de Mallorca to Vienna’s Schwechat Airport encountered severe hail.
Extreme weather in Germany caused significant damage to Austrian Airlines’ Airbus A320, flight OS434. The hailstorm completely shattered both cockpit windows and tore off the front fuselage covering, Austrian Wings reports.
The aircraft encountered the hailstorm just before landing at an altitude of around 6,000 meters. The hail struck without warning, shattering the outer layer of the cockpit windows within seconds. The airline noted that the windows are made of multiple layers, none of which were breached, so there was no loss of cabin pressure. The hail also tore off the front fuselage covering.
Despite having almost no visibility due to the shattered windows, the pilots managed to navigate the heavily damaged Airbus out of the severe storm after circling the Stockerau area.
