A hailstorm cracked the windshield of an Air Canada flight on Saturday evening, forcing the pilots to abort their landing at Calgary International Airport and make an emergency stop in Lethbridge Alta.
Air Canada confirms that Flight AC1159 from Toronto ran into hail on its approach to land in Calgary. None of the 144 passengers were injured, but some were shaken by the experience.
Passengers say the Airbus A320 was descending on to the runway in Calgary when the pilots made a last-minute decision to pull back up into the air.
“I was a little disturbing when you’re going in for a landing and then all of a sudden you are changing your trajectory and then taking off,” said one man who was aboard the flight.
Calgary was hit by major storm Saturday that saw hail the size of ping pong balls fall north of the city.
The area is often referred to as “Hailstorm Alley,” which extends from just south of Calgary into central Alberta. The region typically sees more than 40 hail storms every summer causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
With a report from CTV Calgary
