Austrian flight lands safely after hailstones rip nose cone of passenger jet

The nose radome, the aerodynamic shell covering the front of the airplane, was mostly stripped away, leaving the jet’s substructure exposed. - PHOTO: KARLENE PETITT/X

VIENNA (Bloomberg): An Austrian Airlines flight landed safely in Vienna after a severe hailstorm tore away much of the plane’s nose cone and left the cockpit windows riddled with cracks.

Flight OS434, a 23-year-old Airbus SE A320, encountered the storm after leaving Palma de Mallorca at 3:55 p.m. on Sunday, AirLive, which tracks aviation emergencies, reported on its website.