Check out this poor 737....http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/f.braaksma/Mike F.

Yeah, I've seen that plane before in the screenshots forumI think. But the shots were from a different perspective. That had to have been scary. I wonder how she handled on the way in.Jim Richards

Hi JimI've heard about that as well. I am in switzerland and a lot of pilots here say that they simply forgot to make a weatherbriefing bevore and just thought that these thunderstorms are a small front. Btw: Their weather radar was inactive as they entered the storm!!! It most have felt :-erksYou can see: a good briefing is everthing! ;)Martin :-wave---------------------Martin [email protected]http://www.period.com/airlines/swissair.jpg!!!FOREVER!!!

>I've heard about that as well. I am in switzerland and a lot of >pilots here say that they simply forgot to make a weatherbriefing >before and just thought that these thunderstorms are a small front. >Btw: Their weather radar was inactive as they entered the storm!!! Looking at the damage they likely ran into a hail storm.Regards.Ernie.

Yeah it was Hail as far as I know - and from what I've been told - hail doesn't show up on many types of WX RADAR.Ian

indeed, and combine that with a fat overcast layer of stratusclouds hiding the 'CB' and you have a desastrous situation :s

This sort of links with a thread on PpRune, where a Ryanair pilot was saying with 30 min turnarounds they don't have time to read the NOTAMS. So I guess they don't have time to read the wx either!!

Poor plane :(

Gents-Ouch is right...When I see pictures like these I think, "what were these guys THINKING????"Then when I step back and ask myself honestly, "could that happen to ME while I'm flying?" The answer is usually "yes...it could."No matter what the circumstances I'm 100% these fellows didn't go boring into a thunderstorm intentionally. Althought the prevelence of convective type weather is much greater in many regions of the US than it is anywhere else in the world- professional pilots are professional pilots and nobody takes that kind of risk lightly.Mother nature is a beautiful creature but she is a nasty mean old ***** when she wants to be. I've seen ice build so fast that the heated windscreens glazed over when the radar wasn't even reporting precipitation 25nm downwind of a thunderstorm...In flightsim it's fun to go boring off into the muck to "try your nerves and skill" but I wouldn't trade all of my frightening moments in the real world for three seconds of what these guys experienced...

Amazing photo's. If you ask me they are extremly lucky that they pulled out when they did, that cockpit window was on the verge collapse if it took any more hits.Nick :-abduct

A couple of years ago I heard about a Braathens 737 that went through a hailstorm, and was battered badly. A week later I travelled with a Braathens 737 from ENCN, on my way to work. I sat down in my favourite seat, right side, right wing...Well from ships I`m used to see the silver "freeze tape" used for repair here and there. Seen much strange repairs in my life with this very solid tape. So, after the takeoff I checked out the right wing, watching the flaps go up. And could not belive mye eyes! There it was, on several spots on the wing, I saw this tape! And some solid bumps from hail here and there. It was indeed the same plane that went through the hailstorm. I didn`t ask anyone aboard, just had a wide grin for the rest of the flight to Engm :)

hey, can someone make a liverie of that? :-) i'd love to have a plane with some scratches and damaged painting... would be more realistic if you perform an emergency return to the airport.stu;-)