An Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 aircraft was badly damaged after flying into a heavy and intense hailstorm during a flight on Sunday afternoon.
Austrian Airlines confirmed the incident occurred after the aircraft flew into a thunderstorm "which was not visible on the weather radar", and advised that none of the passengers onboard had been injured during the incident.
The carrier said that a technical team has been "tasked with assessing the specific damage to the aircraft - As of now, the hail has damaged the two front cockpit windows, the aircraft nose (radome), and some coverings,"
Pictures show the nose cone of the aircraft badly damaged, with most of it disintegrated and the windscreens cracked and marked with hailstone impact marks. At this stage, it is unclear on how many panes of glass were damaged in the incident.
The A320 was operating flight 0S434 from Majorca to Vienna on Sunday when the crew declared an emergency after flying through a storm that, according to passengers, shook the aircraft with some force as it started its approach to Vienna.