DENVER, Aug. 8 (UPI) — Passengers were said to be holding hands, praying and crying as their Delta Airlines flight from Boston to Salt Lake City made an emergency landing in Denver on Friday evening.
But several were even more relieved when they saw the extent of the damage in the wake of their safe but anxiety filled touchdown.
“I didn’t realize that we were in as much danger as we were until we got on the ground and actually saw the damage to the plane,” Beau Sorenson told ABC. “Then I realized we were lucky to be alive.”
Having found itself in the midst of a violent hailstorm, the Airbus A320 suffered significant damage to its nosecone and windshield. The cracked front window hampered visibility and complicated the Delta Flight 1889’s descent, but pilots were able to safely land the plane without further problems.
Sorenson told the Denver Post the storm bounced the plane around violently, up and down and side to side. The plane reportedly dropped 14,000 feet over the course of just two minutes.
“Babies were crying. Some young teens behind me were screaming and crying,” said Sorenson, who recommended Delta give the plane’s pilots a significant bonus.
No one was injured during the turbulence or diverted landing, but a Denver International Airport spokesperson reported that one person requested to transported to the hospital. All of the other passengers were boarded onto a new plane and taken from Denver to Salt Like City.
The FAA is investigating an incident, and Delta engineers are currently assessing the plane’s damage.
