On the 26th of May 2019, a China Southern Airlines Airbus A380 encountered a nasty hail storm, causing significant damage to the radome, cockpit windows and leading edge surfaces.
The aircraft, registered B-6140, was performing flight CZ3101 from Guangzhou to Beijing and was cruising at 37,100ft when it entered a nasty weather system.
Alerted to the sudden cracking of the windshields, the pilots initiated a rapid descent to 16,700ft where the aircraft remained in the air for a further 90 minutes on its way to Beijing before performing a safe landing.
Upon inspection, airport ground workers identified significant damage to the radome and leading edge surfaces. The damaged areas were quickly covered with sheet plastic and tape to prevent additional weather damage.
No passengers or crew were injured during the occurrence. The aircraft remains on the ground to undergo repairs by China Southern Airlines.
Information Source: The Aviation Herald
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Wow, that looks like some fairly significant damage. Am guessing maintenance crews will have to replace more than just the cockpit glass and nose radome. I remember American Airlines had a lot of aircraft hit by hail at their Dallas-Ft. Worth HQ/hub many years ago, and have always wondered what happens when an aircraft suffers lots of dents from hail damage? How does an airline go about repairing those?