A Paraguay-bound flight sustained severe damages on Wednesday and was forced to make an emergency landing after stormy weather destroyed the plane's nose and prompted the loss of an engine.
Flight LA1325 was traveling from Santiago de Chile Airport (SCL) to Asunción International Airport (ASU) in Paraguay but sustained severe damages after storm weather enveloped the plane, forcing the crew to divert to Foz do Iguaçu/Cataratas International Airport (IGU) in Brazil.
Local reports indicate the LATAM pilot directing the plane was warned by one of the passengers about the storm’s severity. Marcial Guillermo Gomez, who was on the LATAM flight, recounted that when leaving Santiago de Chile, the pilot assured the crew they would have “beautiful weather” during the flight.
“There is tremendous responsibility on the part of Latam, the [pilot], and also DINAC,” said Gomez told Paraguayan outlet ABC. “After the [pilot’s] attempt to get down in the middle of the storm, we’re off to Foz. We all thought we were going to get stuck there.”
According to Gomez, while the plane spent over three hours on the tarmac waiting for the storm to pass in Asunción, LATAM employees intimidated passengers who expressed a desire to get off the plane, telling them they would be charged extra fees for doing so.
The plane and its 48 passengers eventually took off for Asunción despite storm forecasts; however, despite the delay the plane inevitably encountered weather severe enough to warrant an emergency landing in the Paraguayan capital. The plane, an Airbus A320 registration CC-BAZ, suffered the loss of an engine, damage to a windshield, and damage to the nose of the aircraft.
Footage shared online detailed the ordeal in the air, with some of the videos showing passengers and crew being thrown around the fuselage during what appears to be extreme turbulence. Other posts supply close-ups of the extensive damage the plane suffered from the storm, which threw lots of hail at the craft.
In a statement, LATAM airlines apologized for the inconvenience and assured its customers that everyone landed safely:
“The aircraft made an emergency landing in Asunción, a procedure that was carried out without problems at 23:09 (local time). Both passengers and crew are in good condition.”
Douglas Cubilla, the director of Airports for DINAC, said in a statement that DINAC will open an investigation to determine if any regulations were violated, and that they weren’t immediately certain why the pilot decided to make such a risky flight amid storm forecasts.
LATAM Airlines has a fleet of 288 aircraft, with 56 of those craft specializing in long-haul flights.