SAUDIA A330 and Libyan A320 Damaged By Heavy Storm In-Flight

A Saudi Airlines A330 and a Libyan Airlines A320 were damaged when they flew through heavy rain and hailstorms over Jeddah.

There was a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Sudan to Saudi Arabia. After bad weather over Jeddah, the aircraft entered into a holding pattern at a high altitude and waited for the weather to improve. After descending to 11,000 feet, the aircraft climbed back to 19,000 feet and continued to hold.

About 45 minutes after entering the first hold, the aircraft was positioned for another approach and was able to land on the runway 16C. As seen in the footage shared on the internet, hail and turbulence damaged the aircraft's nose cone on its second approach.

There was severe weather while the Libyan Arab Airlines A320 was leaving out of Jeddah's runway 16C at 1.5 hours before the Saudia incident.

A plane with a registration 5A-LAK was flying from Saudi Arabia to Libya. While climbing out of Jeddah, the A320 encountered a heavy storm and the crew stopped the climb after both of the plane's windows were damaged by hail.

The crew decided to return to Jeddah but aborted the approach at about 2,000 feet and climbed again to 8,000 feet before entering a hold at 5,000 feet to wait for better weather. About an hour after departure, the plane returned to Jeddah.

The A330 and A320 have been grounded in Saudi Arabia and are awaiting maintenance.

The airport advised passengers that the departure of some flights had been delayed because of the severe weather that day.

The Aviation Herald is part of the JACDEC.