Delta pilots forced to make blind emergency landing after hail storm smashes in nose of plane and shatters windshield

I once jolted awake mid-flight in the middle of the kind of turbulence they tried to replicate in those 3D Universal Studios rides from the 90s. I looked out the window to see lightning streaking across the sky, but I had taken some over-the-counter Indian sleeping pills that I can't imagine were legal in America, and thankfully I only stayed awake for long enough to notice the white-knuckled fear of the rest of the passengers on board. Logically, I knew I was in the midst of a terrifying situation, but I didn't have the energy to care, and promptly fell back to sleep.

But I have to imagine that no sleeping pills from India or anywhere else on the globe could have kept me from the terror-stricken panic felt by the passengers of on Delta flight 1889. The flight headed to Salt Lake City from Boston made an emergency landing in Denver after flying through a hail storm that — judging from the severe damage of the plane — I can only imagine seemed like a Hoth asteroid field.

The hail tore through the nose of the plane, causing it to dent inward, shattered the wind and damaged the aircraft's GPS systems, forcing the pilots to land blind. ABC News got hold of the pilot's call to Air Traffic control. The pilot can be heard saying:

We're probably going to do an auto land here. we have a visibility problem here. Just be advised that both our forward windshields have significant damage. So it's a forward visibility problem

According to the news report, the scene in the cabin was about as terrifying as you'd imagine it would be to have hail pounding down on the metal roof of a plane. In an interview with ABC News, passenger Rob Wessmen described the scene as such:

"...you know, people kind of holding hands and others that were crying. There were some kids that were crying. I was nervous. I was messaging my wife, actually."

In a statement to Road Warrior Voices, Delta spokesperson Liz Savadelis said:

"The flight landed without incident, and passengers were re-accommodated on another aircraft. The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority."

Thankfully, according to Delta, everyone made it back to the ground safely. One passenger "wanted to be transported to a local hospital," but any injuries were minor. We can only assume nobody slept through the incident.