The Palmerston North airport manager, Peter Sim, examines the hail damage to an Air New Zealand Saab 340 aircraft in June 2000. The aircraft was 20 minutes into a flight from Wellington to Napier when it hit severe turbulence. Then came the hail, loud enough for the passengers to hear. ‘It was really scary, absolutely awful and traumatic,’ said one. The pilot decided to land at Palmerston North when he noticed cracks in the windscreen. On landing, it was discovered that paint had been stripped from the aircraft’s nose.