Vienna: A passenger jet miraculously landed on Sunday despite hailstones destroying the front of the plane and smashing the cockpit windscreen. Miraculously, the pilot was able to bring the plane down despite the damage to the windscreen, and everyone onboard escaped any injury.
The Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 was flying from Mallorca to Vienna when chunks of ice slammed into the plane and its front windows.
The plane's pilot was forced to land blind, with passengers only realising the true extent of the damage — and their narrow escape — after the plane touched down.
After issuing a distress call, the plane landed safely at Vienna airport.
None of the passengers or crew were injured in the incident. The airline did not say how many people were on board.
"According to the cockpit crew, the storm was not visible on the weather radar," the airline said in a statement on Monday.
In recent weeks, torrential rains have led to flooding across Austria, with firefighters carrying out more than 2,000 operations in several provinces.
Austrian Airlines said a Mayday call was made and that emergency crews rushed to the airport ahead of the aircraft landing.
"The aircraft was able to land safely at Vienna-Schwechat Airport. All passengers on the flight were unharmed," the airline said.
"The Austrian Airlines technical team has already been entrusted with the specific damage assessment of the aircraft in question. The safety of our passengers and our crews is Austrian Airlines' top priority."
The near-miss is the latest mid-air incident to hit headlines in recent weeks.
Last month, a Singapore Airlines jetliner hit severe turbulence leaving one man dead, and others seriously injured.
Flight SQ321 went through huge swings in gravitational force in less than five seconds, likely causing the injuries to people who weren't buckled into their seats, according to a report by Singapore's Transport Ministry released last month. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
