A Spirit Airlines flight that left was heading to the Atlantic City International Airport was delayed on Thursday evening after it was struck by a bolt of lightning while in the air.
Flight 262 was heading from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Atlantic City when it was hit by lightning. The plane landed safely at the airport in Egg Harbor Township, but a following flight to Orlando was delayed on Thursday evening as the plane had to undergo inspection according to the Press of Atlantic City.
According to Sprit spokeswoman Maggie Espin, the plane's scheduled flight was delayed for two hours or more due to the inspection. She said that passengers would be accommodated on the next available flight or be would given a refund or rebooking. No passengers were injured in the lightning strike. It is not clear what the results of the inspection were.
According to ABC News, lightning strikes aren't rare. People are 560 times more likely to be struck by lightning while in an aircraft than on the ground and most commercial planes are hit at least once a year. There's no need to worry though. Modern plans are created to handle lightning strikes. There is typcially no to
minor damage to a plane following a strike.
In January, a small aircraft was hit by lightning over Indonesia. The plane crashed into a field as its wing fell off. Four people were killed in that incident.
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