WATCH: Viral video shows aftermath of lightning bolt hitting plane
- By Web Desk -
- Nov 24, 2019
It was an extremely close call for a plane in New Zealand after a video doing rounds on social media showed how it missed a lightning bolt by inches.
The scene involving an Airbus A380 was captured by Daniel Currie, working at Christchurch Airport and showed a bolt of lightning behind an aircraft that had touched down.
The stuff.co.nz was told by the eye-witness that the planes were all waiting to unload but couldn’t because of the weather. “So [we] were just waiting on the tarmac for clearance and there were multiple lightning strikes … everyone was fine nothing caught fire but looks like a close call. [It] made for an awesome photo.”
For a short time, passengers at Christchurch Airport were warned to stay inside the terminal.
Read more: VIDEO: Heart-stopping moment as passenger plane struck by lightning after take-off
The incident, however, caused no harm to either passengers or the plane. The airbus could also be witnessed during the video, moving to another direction on the runway.
Met authorities in New Zealand confirmed to British outlets that they had issued thunderstorm warnings for the day and the area saw 700 lightning strikes in the space of two hours.
About 240,000 incidents regarding lightning strikes happen each year globally, varying fatality rates between 2000 to 6000 annually as per different reports.