Passenger plane struck by lightning
The aeroplane was rocked by storms ten minutes into the journey
A passenger plane packed with holidaymakers was forced to make an unscheduled landing after being struck by lightning.
The Airbus A320 had just left Newcastle Airport bound for Portugal on Sunday when it was hit by heavy storms.
Flight MYT897 was left with two pinhead-sized holes to its fuselage, forcing the plane to return to its departure airport.
A spokeswoman for MyTravel said the 180 passengers on the flight to Faro would have felt a jolt and seen a flash as it was struck.
The aeroplane was turned around as a precautionary measure and was back in service on Monday after being checked over by engineers.
Holiday compensation
A spokeswoman for Newcastle Airport said: “The aircraft was struck by lightning so it requested permission to come back and land at Newcastle.
“It made a precautionary landing and landed safely. Emergency services were on standby as they always are in these cases.
“The passengers were taken to a hotel overnight and flew this morning. As I understand it the passengers were all fine.”
The spokeswoman for MyTravel said the plane had been hit by “outrageous” weather conditions but it was equipped with special technology to cope with lightning.
Holidaymakers heading for the sun on package deals eventually arrived in Portugal on Monday after MyTravel drafted in another aircraft.
Any passengers who had lost part of their holiday would be compensated, the spokeswoman added.
By: EHVB - 10th June 2003 at 08:32
We were hit by lightning over Rotterdam, short before landing on a flight from MAD to AMS in february 1999. Big storm with snow,rain and hail. Lightning hit between engine and wingtip f the A320, but everything went normal. BW Roger
By: robc - 10th June 2003 at 07:56
The number of times i have heard delays blamed on damage to the wings due to lightning is amazing, so from this experience i thought i was a usuall thing and didnt have much effect…
By: KabirT - 10th June 2003 at 06:48
Ah i have been through this long time back…my flight from Delhi-Srinagar(Kashmir) on IC A320. Its not a very pleasent experience. Anyway the aircraft when hit by lightning is just jolted and no serious damage is done. If on the ground and then hit by lightning, it can cause bad damage as the lightning conductors on an a/c send the lightning to the ground through earthing techniques, if a/c on ground is hit by lightning it can be disatraus.
By: mongu - 10th June 2003 at 00:12
My physics doesn’t stretch too far, but I would have thought that the lightning was only harmful if it could flow through the aircraft to the ground, creating a current. Mere static by itself would not be damaging.
Am I barking up the wrong tree here?
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June 10, 2003 at 12:04 am