I may have been a little harsh on the airline industry of which I was a part for so long, but let's just say that it can at times be economical with the truth. As doubtless it is likely to be with this hail encounter by an Austrian Airlines Airbus this week.
Similar damage to the Airbus flown by a colleague of mine over twenty years ago was ultimately attributable to the fact that the weather radar... was switched off. Hail is as good a radar return as you could possibly hope for, as on that occasion when a 757 in trail could not believe the angry red return that the aircraft ahead had flown into.
Hail itself can be deceptive, sometimes emerging from the top of cumulonimbus cloud only to be carried downwind prior to descent. And dry hail can produce a much lower radar signature than wet; although it is likely to occur at the uppermost section of this type of cloud, which ideally is to be given as wide a berth as possible.
