It may not be the worst thing that could happen to a plane but this was definitely not its lucky day.
A KLM plane from Amsterdam to Birmingham was struck by lightning three times just before it landed this Friday afternoon.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you may have noticed we were hit by lightning,” the captain announced after landing smoothly and safely at Birmingham Airport.
Passengers told the Daily Mail about the “massive bang” that shook their aircraft as one of the bolts hit.
“After the bang, my initial thought was the engine had blown-up. Surprisingly, it wasn’t frightening, it was exciting. We were waiting for something else to happen, then you realise nothing has gone wrong,” said Tony Everitt who was a passenger on the unlucky plane.
Planes are built with electrical shielding to protect them from the effects of lightning bolts, and can withstand voltages 10 times the amount of an the average bolt because scarily enough, flying through lightning bolts isn’t that uncommon.
In a year, the average commercial aircraft can expect to be struck at least once during flight.
