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An Austrian Airlines flight landed safely in Vienna Sunday after a powerful, surprise hailstorm tore away part of the airplane’s nose and left the cockpit windows covered in cracks.
Austrian Airlines flight OS434 was headed from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to Vienna, Austria, when it hit a “thunderstorm cell,” which according to the airplane crew, was not visible on the weather radar, the airline told The Post on Monday.
“As of now, the hail has damaged the two front cockpit windows, the aircraft nose and some coverings,” the airline said in a statement.
Photos show the severe damage, which includes the front windshield covered in cracks. While the front windows were heavily damaged, they remained intact for the rest of the flight.
A Mayday call was made as the plane, an Airbus A320, was traveling through the severe weather patch. Plane crews said they did not see any indication of stormy weather on their path on the weather radar, the airline said.
Emmeley Oakley, a passenger aboard the chaotic flight, told ABC News they were about 20 minutes from landing when they entered a cloud of hail and thunderstorm and began experiencing powerful turbulence.
“We could definitely feel the hail coming down on the plane and it was quite loud and… super rocky for a minute,” Oakley told the station over text message.
Oakley estimated the plane took about two minutes or less to fly through the hailstorm, which caused “phones and cups” to fly around the plane, leading some panicked passengers to scream.
“The cabin crew did a really good job calming those people down though,” Oakley said.
Despite the rocky finish, the flight landed safely at Vienna-Schwechat Airport.
“It wasn’t until we exited that we saw the nose was missing! The pilots really did an excellent job keeping things as smooth and safe as they could,” Oakley added.
No passengers were injured in the incident, Austrian Airlines said.
“The Austrian Airlines technical team is already tasked with assessing the specific damage to the aircraft,” the airline said in a statement. “The safety of our passengers and crews is the top priority for Austrian Airlines.”
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