Cessna 402/402C/B379 Businessliner/Utiliner
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Other / Unknown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged
Weather; Aircraft
I received the hand off from Approach and saw that the aircraft had routing through an area of extreme precipitation. I informed the pilot of the area of weather and told him to let me know if he needed to deviate. He said he would appreciate vectors to the left of the weather. I told him he was cleared to deviate to the left and direct when able. The aircraft was going through the very bottom portion of the weather we showed on the scope when I got relieved. In my briefing I mentioned that the weather must have moved from what we showed since he was going right through it. The relieving Controller had barely got settled when the C402 began a precipitous descent. He went down about 1;500 FT and said he had just encountered severe hail and had a cracked ice viewing shield. While the R-Side got information from the pilot; I got onto the D-Side and coordinated with Approach for a divert. The pilot said that he was in the clear when the hail began. The aircraft had dents on the leading edges of the wings and the nose in addition to the cracked ice viewing shield. The pilot did not declare an emergency or request equipment at the airport. He did land safely.
Enroute Controller described a weather encounter that prompted an immediate descent because of hail and resulted in an emergency with aircraft damage.