BmanCCP

Milan to JFK diverts to Rome...

Article

DLASflyer

Great job by the pilots. TechOps will have their hands full with that bird for a bit.

Crossinator

Aircraft is N189DN. MXP-JFK diverted to FCO. Some serious damage:

Twitter

Out of my Element

See this thread: DAL185 Diversion - FlyerTalk Forums

demkr

Kudos to the pilots.

mnbp

Here's another article describing this incident.
Accident: Delta B763 at Milan and Rome on Jul 24th 2023, turbulence, hail strike

cesco.g

Some critical remarks from meteorologists, questioning the pilots decision to take off from MXP at the time they did.
Headline: Why did the Delta plane fly into the hailstorm?

https://www.blick.ch/ausland/warum-f...d18783367.html

(in German)

DLATL777

Have to agree its rare to see an aircraft turn to fly DIRECTLY into a cell like that. Id be really irritated if I were a pax (and also thankful to be alive) but this looks to be 10000% avoidable. Id love to hear from DL why they didnt wait or take a request a different route.

spongenotbob

Good questions being asked in that article.

Meanwhile, I suspect that 763 has seen it�s last revenue flight now, unfortunately.

The Situation

Holy cow!! I had to look it up but TACA flight 110 and Garuda flight 421 were flights that lost both engines due to severe hail/water ingestion. The wikipedia gave a good overview, but I seem to recall a couple key things about those flights that wikipedia was not clear on. There are limitations of the onboard radar and the most severe weather may actually show up as a clearing in the weather. This would make sense as to why they steered into the heaviest weather, however, this absolutely should not happen as I thought that the result of those incidents was that more sophisticated weather radars were installed, and pilots received better training and awareness of the limitations of the onboard radar.

drminn

Here is a translation of the article:

Was it recklessness? Ignorance? On July 24th, a Delta Air Lines aircraft took off from Milan Malpensa Airport towards New York despite adverse weather conditions. Shortly afterward, the Boeing 767-300 found itself in the midst of a hailstorm. The airplane was heavily damaged by hailstones and had to be diverted to Rome.

Meteorologists from the St. Gallen-based company Meteomatics criticize the pilots' decision to take off under the given conditions. When the aircraft taxied towards the runway at 12:33 pm, a thunderstorm with hail and lightning was already registered west of the airport. According to meteorologist Brand Guay, real-time data from Meteomatics had shown at least 30 minutes in advance that a severe storm was developing and moving towards Malpensa Airport. "Nevertheless, the airplane hit the center," Guay wrote on Twitter.

Colleagues from Easyjet remained on the ground. The pilots of an Easyjet Airbus aircraft intended to take off from Malpensa almost at the same time. After checking the weather radar, which is located in the nose of each aircraft, the captain concluded around 12:47 pm that the minimum conditions for takeoff were not met. In contrast, the Delta aircraft left the runway four minutes later heading north.

Two minutes after takeoff, during the climb phase, the aircraft turned westward as per the planned flight route. "At the time of takeoff, the storm had intensified and was moving further northeast," writes Guay. "Nevertheless, the aircraft turned left and headed towards the worst part of the storm."


The nose, engine, and cockpit window were pierced. The Delta aircraft flew directly into the disturbance. By 1:00 pm, it was in the center of the thunderstorm and was hit by hailstones measuring four centimeters in diameter. The nose, a part of the wings, at least one engine, and the cockpit window on the captain's side were punctured. As it was not possible to return to Malpensa due to the weather conditions, the crew decided to turn south and land in Rome, which they successfully accomplished without further issues. Fortunately, no one was injured.

The "Corriere della Sera" interviewed several pilots about the incident. They all wonder how a takeoff could happen under such conditions. Although the meteorological report from the airport did not indicate any specific dangers, examining the onboard weather radar would have made it clear that hail and lightning were to be expected along the flight route. The pilots, who prefer not to be named, also question why the Delta crew did not follow the example of the Easyjet colleagues who chose to forgo takeoff.
The only certainty is that reckless actions were taken. Meteorologist Guay stated, "We can assume that a series of errors were made, but we do not yet know all the details of the matter." Delta Air Lines has promised an investigation into the incident. The Italian aviation authority is gathering information to determine whether any procedures should be initiated.

lindros2

because they wanted to put another 767-300 out of its misery?

flyerCO

You can't simply repost someone else's article.

DLASflyer

She's back in ATL and should reenter revenue service soon
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N189DN

rylan

Reminds me of the 747 that hit a severe hailstorm over China en route to ICN back in 2015... unfortunately that bird was scrapped due to the extensive damage.