An Indian passenger plane encountered hail during flight, which scared passengers and caused a safe landing despite the major damage to the plane.
The Indigo airplane was from the Indian capital New Delhi to Srinagar, the largest city in Kashmir managed by India on Wednesday (usually taking about an hour and a half) when it was encountered “sudden hail on the way.”
“Flight and cabin crews followed the established protocol and the aircraft landed safely in Srinagar,” it said.
The statement does not specify the damage encountered by the aircraft, but the plane's photos show large holes in the nose.
Delhi experienced extensive rainfall, lightning and thunderstorms on Wednesday night.
The video taken by passenger Sheikh Samiullah, posted on X, showed widespread panic and feared that when the plane encountered hail, it caused huge turbulence, which shocked the inside of the plane.
People can be heard screaming, and children can be heard crying as the plane sways violently.
Samiullah told the Indian News Agency's News Trust that pilots announced safety zones and passengers believed they would arrive in Srinagar within 30 minutes.
“I think this is my last flight. Everyone thinks we're going to break down. It's a traumatic experience,” he said.
“I'm a regular, but I've never experienced anything like this. We're so grateful to the pilot for landing safely.”
Samiullah describes the shock he saw when he got out of the car.
“It's even more painful after we boarded and saw the plane's damage,” he said. “I hope no one has experienced that.”
Mary Schiavo, a transportation analyst at CNN and inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation, said such incidents are not uncommon.
Hail can cause significant damage to the aircraft, including nose violations and windshield damage, but despite this, many aircraft are able to land safely.
Sometimes bad weather doesn't appear on the radar “and you're in hail without you knowing it,” Shiavo said.
“On other planes, hail beats the nose or beats the nose in the nose. And (the aircraft) may lose equipment, but it's important that they still have control.”
Shiavo describes that pilots will have to fly the plane manually under “pressure”.
“The performance of the aircraft will be affected by hail. They have to make sure they control it,” she said. “Of course, they have to worry about more than losing their nose…it will be a very stressful event, but the aircraft is amazing…it can be done with it.”
In the past, serious unrest has made headlines, including one from Singapore Airlines last year when a passenger died and more than 70 injured.
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