Passengers have a narrow escape after hailstorm hits Delta airlines flight

Around 130 passengers on board a Delta airlines flight had a narrow escape when the plane's windshields and nose cone got badly damaged midair as hail pelted the Airbus. It flew through a powerful thunderstorm, forcing the pilots for making an emergency landing.

The incident

• The Delta Flight 1889 from Boston, Massachusetts, to Salt Lake City in Utah hit bad weather at the Nebraska-Colorado border on late night of 7 August.
• Hail pelted the Airbus A320 as it flew through an intense thunderstorm, damaging part of the aircraft and forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing in Denver, reportedly the plane dropped 14,000 feet in altitude over a two- minute time span.
• The passengers stood near the window and looked how much damage was done to the front of the plane. They and flight attendants took pictures of the cone.One attendant said it was her worst flight in 30 years of working as a flight attendant.
• Many terrified passengers said they were lucky to be alive after relatively normal turbulence became a 'roller coaster' up in the air. Robb Wessman, of Belmont, a passenger said, "It felt very out-of-control."
• The flight departed Boston and was scheduled to land in Salt Lake City, Utah, but the weather prompted the pilots to land in Denver, as the nearest suitable airport once the storm hit.
• The plane had cracked windshields and damaged nose cone area that houses weather radar and navigational equipment. The Federal Aviation Administration will soon investigate the incident.