Planes vanish from sight in under a minute

Aug 4, 2015 13:47 GMT  ·  By

They aren't featured on the news anywhere near as often as hurricanes or tornadoes, but the fact of the matter is sandstorms can too prove seriously destructive.

If you're thinking they're just clouds of good old sand and so can't be all that frightful to behold, have a look at the video below. Chances are the footage will change your mind.

The video was shot in Jordan over the weekend and shows the Queen Alia International Airport in the city of Amman getting engulfed by a sandstorm that formed in the region early Sunday morning.

Now viral on Facebook, where it was shared on the day of the storm by local media in Jordan, the rather shocking footage begins with a view of mammoth sand clouds approaching the airport.

In less than a minute, the sandstorm swallows planes resting on the ground and then an entire hanger. The clouds are so dense that the aircraft and the hanger almost entirely vanish from sight.

Airport officials were forced to cancel and reroute flights

Huffington Post tells us that, faced with this sandstorm that hit the city of Amman out of the blue this past Sunday morning, Queen Alia International Airport officials were left with no choice but cancel and reroute flights.

Planes that were supposed to take off were instead grounded and flights that were expected to land were sent to other airports. Once the sand clouds cleared, things returned to normal.

No major incidents were reported, and although ever so slightly delayed, all flights eventually made it to their designated destination, be it Amman or some other city.

The sandstorm is believed to have been the result of the intense heat that has been plaguing Jordan for months now. Coupled with strong winds, the heat caused cloud sands to rise from the country's desert plains.