While modern planes are built to not just withstand an unexpected lightning strike but even fly in weather when thunder is likely, the idea of one's plane being hit by a lightning bolt is enough to put many laypeople off flying.
At the end of last week, a student pilot was watching planes take off from a park near Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and filmed the hair-raising moment when this occurred to an Air Canada (ACDVF) plane headed on a long transatlantic flight to London.
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The sixteen-second video, which shows a dramatic bolt of yellow and blue lightning hit the Boeing 777-300ER (BA) as it flies through a foggy sky, immediately went viral on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter and was viewed nearly 500,000 times since being posted on March 5.
😳 Air Canada Boeing 777 getting struck by lightning while departing Vancouver, BC over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/naXCRouaVt
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) March 5, 2024
Student pilot and plane spotter captures frightening moment in the sky
"I saw that there was a 777-300 taking off that was going to be heading for London Heathrow, and the 777 is one of my favourite [Canadian spelling] aircraft and is, like, the largest twin-engine aircraft, so I thought it'd be interesting to snap a quick video of it because it's super loud," Ethan West, who is currently going completing the training hours necessary to become a pilot and is a plain spotter during his personal time, told CityNews Vancouver.
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While the video left many wondering what happened to the Boeing and the people inside, the strike did not affect the plane or its trajectory. It landed safely in London Heathrow Airport (LHR) 10 hours after the incident.
Air Canada confirmed that the plane was taken in for inspection immediately after it got to London (aviation laws require any plane struck by lightning to be taken out of commission upon arrival but, if a strike does not damage the aircraft, it is usually not a reason to derail the flight) and returned to service after found to be undamaged.
Lightning strike witness: 'Just wondering if they were going to have to divert'
"All aircraft are taken offline to be examined fully by aircraft engineers following any such events," the airline said in a statement.
But the frightening moment reignited public discussion around what happens when a plane is struck by lightning. In March 2023, a Lufthansa (DLAKF) plane flying from Austin to Frankfurt was diverted to Dulles International Airport (IAD) near Washington, D.C. after a severe lightning strike that caused several injuries.
West's knowledge of the aviation industry and passion for planes also did not go unnoticed as it came out in interviews when news outlets started asking him how he reacted to capturing such a fleeting moment on video. West had come to the Larry Berg Flight Path Park near the airport specifically to look at his favorite type of plane take off.
"I was just wondering what was going to happen," West told the local news outlet further. "From my perspective, I was wondering if they were going to have to divert because I know that there's, obviously, checklists that they're going to have to follow."
