Jet lands with smashed windshield and broken nose after extreme weather that left passengers in terror

• A passenger plane was forced into an emergency landing by extreme weather over South America.
• The Airbus A320 landed in Paraguay with a broken nose cone and a smashed windshield, images show.

A passenger plane was forced into an emergency landing late on Wednesday after its nose cone and windscreen were shattered mid-flight, according to multiple reports.

The Airbus A320, operated by Chilean airline LATAM, et off from Santiago de Chile and made the emergency landing at Asunción, Paraguay, at around 11 p.m. local time, Chile's General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics said.

The plane hit "extreme and unforeseen weather conditions," according to the Chilean officials, who did not give precise details.

According to Paraguayan news outlet Telefuturo, the flight had resumed its journey after an initial diversion to avoid the weather.

Dramatic images broadcast by Telefuturo show the aircraft with a large portion of its nose cone broken off, its windshield shattered and equipment dangling from its base.

The network also obtained footage shot by a passenger from inside the plane, in which passengers scream in fear and the craft appears to be under violent turbulence.

In a further clip shared by ABC7News, what seem to be hailstones can be heard hammering at the plane's exterior and lightning flashes in the windows.

"They gave us the instruction, how to put our hands, our head, and just wait for the impact," passenger Gerardo Ampuerol told ABC7News. "By that moment I really thought I was going to die, and I just started praying."

All passengers and crew are in a "good condition," the airline said in a statement, per Telefuturo. The outlet reported that there were 48 passengers.

Chile's General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics said on Thursday that it would open up a joint investigation into the incident with its Paraguayan counterparts.