Delta flight makes emergency landing in Denver due to hail

DENVER (Reuters) - A Delta airliner flying from Boston to Salt Lake City encountered a hail storm and was forced to make an emergency landing in Denver, a federal official said on Saturday.

Photos taken by a passenger and posted on the website of Salt Lake City television station KSTU showed cracks in the windshields of the plane's cockpit and damage to its nose cone.

Delta Airlines Flight 1889 landed safely at Denver International Airport on Friday night after encountering the hail, and the incident is under investigation, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in an email.

Laura Coale, a spokeswoman for Denver International Airport, said one passenger on the plane requested to be transported to a local hospital.

The plane originated in Boston and had been bound for Salt Lake City before it was diverted, Gregor said.

Delta officials put passengers on other flights from Denver so they could continue to their destinations, according to CNN.

A spokeswoman for Delta was not immediately available for comment on Saturday.

"I fly constantly and this was the scariest 10 minutes of my life," passenger Robin Jones told KSTU after arriving at the Salt Lake International Airport early on Saturday.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver, Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by David Gregorio)