Severely damaged

AUA plane gets caught in catastrophic hailstorm

The AUA A320 aircraft after landing at Vienna Airport. The pilot brought the plane to the ground flying blind.(Bild: zVg)

The windshield is shattered, the nose of the plane is almost completely missing, the passengers are shocked: it was only thanks to the pilot's experience that the AUA plane from Mallorca was brought to the ground in Vienna in a blind flight. 

Shock for a group of young Mühlviertler from Zwettl an der Rodl (Upper Austria) who were spending the weekend on Mallorca. They had a reason to celebrate, one of their friends had turned 30.

Suddenly violent shaking
On the return flight, they all celebrated their 2nd birthday together. Their AUA plane took off from Palma at around 3.30 p.m. on Sunday with a slight delay. There was minor turbulence during the flight. "Nothing major," reports passenger Marcel H.. With his thoughts already back home, a violent shaking could be felt about half an hour before the scheduled arrival in Vienna.

Flight through a thunderstorm front 
"We flew through a thunderstorm front," continued the Upper Austrian. The pilot then landed at Vienna Airport. "The landing was a little more bumpy than normal," says the passenger. But he didn't think anything of it. Then the pilot announced that the plane's windshield was broken.

The nose of the plane was missing
A large contingent of emergency services immediately raced to the plane. When the passengers got off the plane, they were in for a rude awakening. Not only were the front windows shattered, but the front part of the plane was also missing - simply torn off. "At that moment, the passengers realized that the pilot had landed flying blind and how close they had come to a catastrophe. "It could have turned out differently," the friends thought to themselves.

This is how AUA reacted
AUA confirmed the incident on Sunday evening: "On today's flight OS434 from Palma de Mallorca to Vienna, an Airbus A320 aircraft was damaged by hail. The aircraft was caught in a thunderstorm cell on approach to Vienna, which according to the cockpit crew was not visible on the weather radar. According to current information, the two front cockpit windows of the aircraft, the nose of the aircraft (radome) and some panels were damaged by the hail.

Even a "Mayday" call was made
Due to the damage, the Mayday emergency call was made, AUA continued. "The aircraft was able to land safely at Vienna-Schwechat Airport. All passengers on the flight were uninjured. 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 a top priority for Austrian Airlines."

The men have had enough of flying for the time being
Miraculously, no one was injured in the incident. The group from the Mühlviertel region left Vienna Airport and soon reached Upper Austria on the ÖBB train. When they had solid ground under their feet again, their knees were still shaking. The six men from Zwettl an der Rodl have had enough of flying for the time being.