Plane windscreen shatters at 37,000 feet due to freak hailstorm mid-flight
The captain was forced to land with limited visibility due to the severity of the damage incurred
A mid-air hailstorm shattered the windscreen of a plane as it was flying at 37,000 feet above China.
The China Southern Airlines Airbus A380 was flying from Guangzhou to Beijing when it was hit by freak weather.
Captain He Xianghang issued a mayday call before descending to 16,700 feet.
Despite the limited visibility, the plane landed safely in Beijing around 90 minutes later.
According to reports, no passengers were injured during the flight.
Images of the damaged aircraft show splintering to both the front windscreen and side windows.
Severe damage can also be seen to the nose of the jet, where paintwork has been chipped away by the force of the hail.
Audio footage of the radio transmissions has been released online, in which Captain He can be heard telling the Beijing control tower that he “can still see” before landing the plane safely.
A passenger was quoted as saying that there was more turbulence than usual during the flight, but that passengers were given no indication of the challenges faced by the captain and that they only realised what had happened after disembarking.
Another passenger was reported as saying the experience felt like “riding a rollercoaster. I nearly vomited.”
Retired captain Tom Bunn told Inverse that while high altitude hailstorms are rare, they aren’t unheard of.
“A powerful updraft in a thunderstorm can kick hailstones out of the top into the clear air above the cloud,” he said.
Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms forced the cancellation of 111 out of 436 flights by Beijing International Airport yesterday.
China Southern Airlines is one of China’s biggest airlines, alongside Air China and China Eastern Airlines.
The Independent has contacted China Southern Airlines for further comment.
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