The American Airlines flight making an emergency landing in El Paso on Sunday after being caught in a hail storm had some shocking damage beyond the cracked windshield as first reported, photos revealed.
The flight had 130 passengers and five crew members when it landed at the El Paso International Airport after being in the air for about two hours after taking off from San Antonio, the El Paso Times reported.
In radio communication from the flight obtained by KFOX-TV/KDBC-TV, the pilot described damage to the craft's windshield to the air traffic control tower.
"The hail has beat up our forward windshields pretty badly for American Airlines 1897," the pilot told the tower. "At this time, we don't have a whole lot of forward visibility."
Photos of the plane's damage and its description made its rounds on social media.
"American Airlines Flight 1897, from San Antonio to Phoenix, diverted to El Paso due to damage sustained by weather in flight," an American representative told The El Paso Times. "We commend the great work of our pilots, along with our flight attendants, who safely landed the Airbus A319 at 8:03 p.m."
"The aircraft is currently being evaluated by our maintenance team. We never want to disrupt our customers' travel plans, and we are sorry for the trouble this caused."
American Airlines officials said passengers resumed their trip to Phoenix from El Paso at 11:46 p.m.
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