Austrian Airlines has reported that Flight OS434 encountered a “thunderstorm cell” while en route from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to Vienna, Austria. The cockpit windows, coverings, and nose of the aircraft suffered damage due to the hail. Pictures revealed that the nose of the aircraft had broken off as a result of the impact.
Emmeley Oakley, who was a passenger on the flight, recounted the experience of flying through a cloud of hail and thunderstorm that caused turbulence. “We were roughly 20 minutes away from landing when it happened,” Oakley shared via text message with ABC News.
According to Oakley, the plane was hit by hail and the experience was quite intense. The hail was loud and caused the plane to shake for a brief period of time.
During the turbulent flight, the Airbus A320 encountered severe weather conditions that were not visible on the cockpit crew’s radar. This unexpected weather caused damage to the aircraft, resulting in a Mayday call being made.
According to Oakley’s estimation, the airplane passed through the hailstorm in a duration of approximately two minutes or even less. This caused a chaotic situation within the plane, with objects such as phones and cups flying around uncontrollably.
According to Oakley, there were individuals who screamed during the incident, but luckily the flight attendants were there to provide assistance.
According to Oakley, the cabin crew performed exceptionally well in pacifying those individuals.
According to Oakley, the flight was uneventful for a large majority of the journey.
At present, the damage is being examined by the technical team of Austrian Airlines.
According to Oakley, they only noticed that the nose was missing after they had already left. Despite this, she commended the pilots for doing a great job in ensuring a smooth and safe flight.
