Hailstorm causes major damage to nose, cockpit windows of Austrian Airlines plane
https://nypost.com/2024/06/10/world...e-cockpit-windows-of-austrian-airlines-plane/
Could this have been avoided / prevented by the pilots ?
Hailstorm causes major damage to nose, cockpit windows of Austrian Airlines plane
- Thread starter Dave Hess
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https://nypost.com/2024/06/10/world...e-cockpit-windows-of-austrian-airlines-plane/
Could this have been avoided / prevented by the pilots ?
Oh my Hail!
Windshields aren't that complicated. It's a glass-plastic sandwich. Glass for scratch resistance and plastic for impact resistance. Not much different than an auto windshield. But those can get pretty messed up too if the glass layer cracks.
I assume the plane/engines have to go through a pretty thorough inspection for damage? The rotor turbine blades must have got hammered too.
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I don't think they're called rotor blades. That sounds more like a helicopter term. I think they have the fan blades and then turbine blades - both of which can be damaged by hail.
TACA 110 had extensive hail damage. However, the engine flamed out due to water ingestion. The story goes that the engines were replaced and I'm guessing were considered a complete loss.
Evidently it's not like when you're on the ground and you can see precip off in the distance? A pilot won't be able to see severe weather until they're too close to avoid it?
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That Airbus has a 5-layer heated windshield. I don't know of many automobiles that use chemically treated 5-layer windshields.
Yes, and no. When you’re flying in the clouds, it’s hard to see other clouds. On the ground, below the clouds, you can see lots of clouds.
If the thunderstorm is standing alone, a supercell, and it’s daytime, sure then it’s easy to see, and it’s easy to go around.
But at night, or when you’re already in the weather, no, you can’t see it.
Ever been in fog so thick that you can’t see the center line of the road?
Well, that’s what it’s like flying in a rain cloud. Now put yourself at 500 mph - with that same visibility.
We fly through clouds like that all the time. If we didn’t, we couldn’t get anywhere.
Tule fog over the Altamont Pass. Visibility was about 10 feet. Probably should have just parked on the side of I-580, but I was thinking there was a possibility of getting hit from behind. I feel fortunate to have made it out without a collision.
But yeah. It's pretty easy to understand that kind of lack of visibility as a passenger looking out the window when flying through clouds.
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