China Southern A320 damaged in hailstorm
 

A China Southern Airlines passenger jet was able to land safely after suffering severe damage, including cracked cockpit windows and fist-sized holes to the fuselage, after being hit by hailstones while flying between Guangzhou to Chengdu on Saturday.

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/fi...mage_hires.jpg

http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/fi...mage_hires.jpg

Are there any photos that show damage to leading edges or surfaced of any of the airfoils? Mostly saw nose and windscreen in the photos. (Ouch! Glad they got back in one piece).

Was hoping for those as well, but have not found any.

TS avoidance in China
 

When I used to fly to China, it was considered very bad form to ask for diversion around TS, and request would be refused. Is this still the case? Is there any history of an emergency declaration and diversion without clearance?

The radar picture should have looked horrendous. Will we ever see an official report re this event?

I don't know about "considered very bad form", but clearances to divert around weather are often not available from civil controllers in China due to the proximity of military airspace. The best way to obtain a clearance in such circumstances is to declare an emergency. That gives the civil controllers more ammunition to obtain a clearance from their military counterparts. You have to plan ahead and allow enough time, but the clearance is usually forthcoming.

Same thing happened to a Delta B747 last year, he wasn't able to get clearance to deviate.

seems just to be the radome. windscreen took a hell of a beating.

this image has a bizarre perspective angle

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cm_f8s3VIAAv6yT.jpg

I wonder if it was reported to CAAC and how many 'demerit' points they'll be given?

Oh, hang on a minute, it's only those pesky foreign airlines that have safety issues in China. Silly me...:rolleyes:

This picture has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. Please remove it. There are no hail stones in China.

Bet that was noisy while it was going on...

Interesting. I've heard it's a bit of an effort to get clearance before but that it's actually bad form to even ask. So what would you do with a CB identified ahead? I assume you didn't just lough through?

I have to say I'm reluctant to take any flight that routes over China given the reports from pilots about this issue. I know you're supposed to be able to declare emergency, but I trust Delta and appparently they weren't able to avoid. I'd rather not take my chances we might not be forced to fly into an area where you essentially become a test pilot and are relying on blind luck to keep the plane together. There is no way of knowing what forces might lie in a particular CB...

Well, having flown thru Chinese airspace many times, you do have to plan ahead with regards to WX/CBs enroute.

You ask for deviation, if not granted ask for alternative routing. Then you make a Pan call, then finally declare a Mayday as a last resort, and go around the Wx and/or hold present position if suitable. Usually you get the response clear to avoid. There are procedures for this if you do not get a response, radio busy, which is common at times in Chinese airspace. Follow them, but fly through CB's nah. :ugh:

SyB :zzz::zzz:

These days it's slightly better getting clearances for wx avoidance in Chinese airspace than what it was a few yrs ago. I have heard some airlines threaten pans and mayday if a clearance or alternative wasn't granted and it usually gets sorted. However last week while avoiding a CB I spotted another aircraft below going in the opposite direction flying directly towards a large constantly flashing CB. I see this quite often while avoiding wx a whole bunch of TCAS targets flying into said wx.

Jxf63 bloody hilarious post.

I had to declare PAN PAN PAN a few months ago to avoid a line of thunderstorms near Chongqing. Any request for a new heading was met with "not available due to restriction".

Sichuan Airlines had an A321 suffer similar damage in June.

That's rather scary...do some pilots not value their lives? Is it get-there-itis? You don't have to get to destination at all costs, including risking everyones lives. It's like a train driver carrying on full steam after being told there's a tree on the line ahead. None would do it. But there does seem to be an attitude in aviation sometimes of well, if we want to get there, we'll just have to buckle up, cross our fingers, and enjoy the ride. I understand this doesn't apply to the vast majority of pilots, but that any do at all is enough to worry.

No neila83, it's China.

If you're a local carrier your too terrified to deviate and/or ask permission to do so. If you're hkg based you just get on with it, jump up and down, declare a pan or mayday if you need to. If you're a foreign carrier, you might be to ingrained with the idea that ATC is there to help you (like in the USA, hence the Delta hail incident) to even consider the fact that the pilots and atc aren't working together to avoid an inflight break up.

That's China for you.

Yay