Air France B744 at Rio de Janeiro on Nov 12th 2013, hail strike

Last Update: November 13, 2013 / 21:01:05 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Nov 12, 2013

Classification
Accident

Airline
Air France

Flight number
AF-443

Departure
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Destination
Paris Charles de Gaulle, France

Aircraft Registration
F-GITI

Aircraft Type
Boeing 747-400

ICAO Type Designator
B744

Airport
Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport, Rio De Janeiro

Airport ICAO Code
SBGL

An Air France Boeing 747-400, registration F-GITI performing flight AF-443 from Rio de Janeiro,RJ (Brazil) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France), was climbing out of Rio's runway 15 at about 18:35L (20:35Z) when the aircraft encountered hail resulting in a cracked first officer's windshield. The aircraft levelled off at FL150, dumped fuel and returned to Rio for a safe landing on runway 15 about 110 minutes after departure. The aircraft received substantial damage to nose cone, leading edges of wings and stabilizers as well as the windshield.

Passengers reported the aircraft also received a lightning strike.

The airline confirmed the aircraft returned to Rio de Janeiro due to a damaged windscreen. The flight was cancelled.

Metars:
SBGL 130200Z 17004KT CAVOK 26/22 Q1012
SBGL 130100Z 08001KT 9999 FEW020 BKN100 26/22 Q1012
SBGL 130000Z 12002KT 9999 FEW020 BKN050 26/22 Q1011 RETS
SBGL 122300Z 01006KT 9999 TS FEW020 FEW030CB SCT080 26/22 Q1010
SBGL 122200Z 10007KT 9999 TS SCT020 FEW030CB BKN080 26/22 Q1009
SBGL 122100Z 11015KT 9999 TS SCT020 FEW030CB BKN080 27/20 Q1007
SBGL 122000Z 14018KT 8000 -RA BKN020 SCT025TCU BKN080 31/20 Q1005
SBGL 121925Z 20030G42KT 8000 2000SW VCSH BKN020 SCT025 29/20 Q1005
SBGL 121910Z 18017G29KT 9999 2500S VCSH BKN020 FEW025TCU 32/17 Q1004
SBGL 121900Z 21017KT 9999 SCT025 FEW030TCU 36/18 Q1004
SBGL 121800Z 33005KT 9999 FEW025 40/19 Q1003
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Nov 12, 2013

Classification
Accident

Airline
Air France

Flight number
AF-443

Departure
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Destination
Paris Charles de Gaulle, France

Aircraft Registration
F-GITI

Aircraft Type
Boeing 747-400

ICAO Type Designator
B744

Airport
Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport, Rio De Janeiro

Airport ICAO Code
SBGL

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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