Close Call: Windscreen Of Plane Shattered By Freak Hailstorm At 37,000 Feet

The pilots of a Chinese airline got the shock of their lives when the windscreen of the plane they were flying shattered into pieces when a mid-air hailstorm hit it unexpectedly while it was flying at 37,000 feet.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the China Southern Airlines Airbus A380 was flying from Guangzhou to Beijing on Sunday when the incident occurred.

As the plane was descending to land at about 11.20am, the plane's crew radioed the control center to report about the freak accident.

The airline, through its Weibo account, said the pilots managed to land the plane safely and that no passengers were hurt in the incident.

“The windscreen of an A380 plane is three layers thick and only the outer layer broke,” the airline said.

A passenger reportedly said there was more turbulence than usual during the flight, but they only realised what had happened after disembarking.

Thank God everythink turned out OK in the end. We would've totally freaked out if it happened to us!