Situation underestimated?

End of investigation into AUA hail flight “not foreseeable”

More than nine months after an Austrian Airlines (AUA) aircraft was caught in a storm and damaged by hail, there is no end in sight to the investigation. The Korneuburg public prosecutor's office is investigating the allegation of negligent endangerment of the public.

According to authority spokeswoman Gudrun Bischof, the investigations are "very extensive" and an end to the investigation is "not in sight". In the meantime, further statements of facts have been received by the Vienna prosecuting authority. In particular, it is being investigated whether AUA failed to provide pilots with training on how the weather radar works.

AUA rejects accusations
The suspicion is based on information that an expert is said to have received from a pilot - AUA rejects the accusations. The airline emphasizes that significantly more training is carried out than required by law. According to AUA, there are no gaps in the education and training of pilots.

The reason for the investigation was an AUA Airbus A320 on June 9, 2024 on its way from Palam de Mallorca to Vienna. At the time, it was caught in a thunderstorm cell and experienced severe turbulence. The emergency call "Mayday" was initially made. However, the plane landed safely at Vienna-Schwechat Airport and no passengers were injured. However, the aircraft was damaged.

Thunderstorm cell "not visible" to pilots
According to Austro Control, the storm was known. This raised the question of whether the pilots had underestimated the situation. In addition to an internal investigation, AUA asked the Federal Safety Investigation Board (SUB) for an external audit. According to AUA, the thunderstorm cell was not visible to the cockpit crew on the weather radar. Austro Control was unable to establish any violation of regulatory requirements with regard to the training of the pilots.

Charges filed on suspicion of abuse of authority
Meanwhile, the Vienna public prosecutor's office has received a complaint of suspected abuse of authority against the head of the investigation unit (SUB) and three AUA safety officers, as confirmed by Nina Bussek, spokeswoman for the authorities, in response to a statement of facts submitted by a lawyer.

However, Bussek dismissed recent media reports which spoke of an investigation into abuse of office and favoritism. "There is currently no investigation. It is being examined whether there is sufficient initial suspicion and whether investigations should be initiated," explained Bussek.