Plane Forced To Make Emergency Landing In New York After Hitting Hail

A Delta Airlines flight that took off from Florida was forced to make an emergency landing after a bird strike caved in the nose of the aircraft.

The Airbus A319 had to turn around suddenly so that it could safely land at John F Kennedy Airport in New York, as the front of the plane was severely damaged.

It was carrying 43 passengers and was due to land at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, having taken off from Palm Beach. All crew and passengers landed safely.

Images of the front of the plane show that it had been totally bent out of shape, after a flock of birds flew into the front of it, causing the pilot to decide to land the plane earlier than planned.

The part of the plane that was damaged is where the plane's radar equipment is kept and protected - a key part of flying the plane.

ABC News reported that the damage was actually caused by hail, but a full investigation by the The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is underway to determine the cause.

Hail can cause extensive damage to aircraft. Back in 2018, images emerged that showed a plane in China that had been battered by hail.

A mid-air hailstorm attacked a domestic airliner with such force that it broke its weather radar and left a massive dent in its nose cone. It also cracked the outer layers of its left and right windscreens.

Asia Wire

The pilot of Tianjin Airlines flight 7865 was able to make a successful emergency landing. The plane was travelling to the city of Haikou, the capital of Hainan, the country's southernmost island province.

On the way at 32,000 feet, however, the plane encountered the violent hailstorm, which - as you can clearly see from the photos - did its very best to destroy the plane.

Pilots were able to battle the hailstorm until they were given clearance to land in Wuhan, in the nearby Hubei. All crew and passengers were reported as safe.

Statistically, the chances of a plane crash are incredibly low - just one in every 1.2 million flights. The odds of dying are even lower, with a one in 11 million chance. By comparison, your chances of dying in a car accident are one in 5,000.

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward