MURFREESBORO, Tenn - Middle Tennessee State University has flown in an expert from Belgium to examine planes that were damaged in a recent hail storm.
MTSU Aerospace chair Wayne Dornan said the expert arrived Monday night, and has been inspecting 27 planes from the schools fleet.
Several airplanes belonging to MTSU and five other schools were pounded with golf ball-size hail last week and grounded until they are cleared for flight.
Dornan credited a new warning system the university was testing with saving lives.
As the storm started approaching the Murfreesboro Municipal Airport, flight dispatchers used the new system, installed just three weeks ago, to get a handful of planes in the air to land in time.
No one was injured, but the school was left with only three planes in their training fleet.
"A plane like this cannot fly that kind of a storm," he said.
MTSU was hosting a handful of other universities for a regional flying competition. Planes from about five universities were at the airport when the storm hit.
Experts planned to check each plane before the university decides if it needs to lease or borrow temporary ones until its entire fleet is fixed.
Related Story:
Oct. 21, 2011: Hail Damages MTSU Flight Program Planeshttp://www.newschannel5.com
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