Flight 1889 of Delta Airlines, which was bound for Salt Lake City, Utah coming from Logan Airport in Boston, had to make an emergency landing at the Denver International Airport.
The plane had a safe landing despite getting weak visibility after a hailstorm at the Nebraska-Colorado border severely damaged its windshield and nose cone. The hail also partially tore the plane's fuselage.
There were also reports that hail was entering the engine and going out the other side, resembling the movement of a snow-cone machine.
After the windshield cracked, the pilots took it as their cue to make an emergency landing. Using an automated guiding system, along with help from the control tower, the plane managed to successfully land at around 8:40 p.m.
"The pilot banked the plane and then descended fairly rapidly," said Robb Wessman of Belmont, who was one of the passengers on board. "Looking at the graph later, it was about 12,000 feet (drop) in just a minute-and-a-half."
Beau Sorenson, another passenger, was just glad to be alive.
"The flight had been delayed in Boston and the pilot warned us of a little chop as he was routed between two storms. The next thing we know, we are bouncing around in some very big turbulence," Sorenson said.
There was no information on the total number of passengers on board although the plane, which is an Airbus 320, can carry up to 180. They were flown to Salt Lake City on a different plane and landed at around 1:45 a.m., five hours after the originally scheduled time of arrival. One passenger was reportedly brought to the hospital after suffering from minor injuries.
"I fly constantly and this was the scariest 10 minutes of my life," said Robin Jones, another passenger. "I thought, 'OK. Have I told everybody that I love that I love them?' And as soon as I realized I had done that, I was like, 'I'm all right. Everything's going to be OK.'"
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that they will investigate the incident.
"The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority," said spokeswoman Liz Savadelis for Delta.
