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NEED TO KNOW
- A aircraft touring from Tampa to Denver “sustained a attainable lightning strike,” in response to Southwest Airways
- The airline advised PEOPLE that following the Sunday, Might 25 incident, “Our upkeep groups took the plane out of service for inspection”
- There have been no reported accidents
A Southwest Airways flight made a secure touchdown after presumably being struck by lightning throughout Memorial Day weekend.
Southwest Airways advised PEOPLE in a press release that the Sunday, Might 25, flight touring from Tampa Worldwide Airport “sustained a attainable lightning strike” on its strategy to Denver Worldwide Airport and “landed safely.”
“Our upkeep groups took the plane out of service for inspection. There have been no accidents,” the assertion continued.Â
Emergency crews at Denver Worldwide Airport additionally responded per commonplace protocol, per KUSA.
DANIEL SLIM/AFP through Getty
In keeping with CBS Colorado, citing FlightAware information, Southwest Airways Flight 168 took off from Tampa Worldwide Airport at about 6:54 p.m. EDT. It landed at Denver Worldwide Airport at 8:23 p.m. MDT and arrived at its gate 13 minutes later.
Passenger Mariah Torrez advised KUSA she heard a loud bang and noticed a flash of sunshine whereas touring via tough turbulence about 20 minutes from touchdown in Denver.
“So I used to be simply form of searching the window, and impulsively I simply see this shiny mild, form of like, mild up the plane, and form of shook our seats just a little bit, and we have been like, Oh my gosh. Like, what simply occurred?” she recalled.
“I am my husband, and he was like, I feel we simply obtained hit by lightning,” continued Torrez. “And I used to be like, No approach. After which everyone form of round us was, like considering the identical factor.”
The Nationwide Climate Service states on its website that business transport passenger planes are hit by lightning a median of “one or two occasions a 12 months.”
Getty
“They’re designed and constructed to have conducting paths via the aircraft to take the lightning strike and conduct the currents,” the web site states.
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Whereas it’s unknown the place the attainable lightning strike occurred, CBS Colorado reported that the aircraft’s mapped course confirmed it flying over a storm system in central Louisiana and east Texas halfway via the flight.