A British Airways plane was struck by lightning while landing at Heathrow Airport today.
Passengers on board flight BA919 from Stuttgart to Heathrow said they were left “shocked” after the incident, which forced the crew to divert to Gatwick.
The plane departed Germany just after 1pm local time (12pm BST) and was due to land at Heathrow at 1.40pm.
However, bad weather forced the pilots to divert to Gatwick, where the passengers arrived at around 2pm before being taken to Heathrow.
One passenger shared a photo of lightning outside the window, saying: ‘The crew were amazing when our flight was struck by lightning on approach to Heathrow. It was shocking. The flight had to divert to Gatwick.’
Another man, whose son and grandson were also on the plane, described it as the “flight from hell” after passengers were delayed in Stuttgart by overheated brakes and then diverted in the UK because of lightning.
A British Airways spokesman said: ‘BA919 diverted to Gatwick earlier this afternoon due to weather conditions in the region.
‘The flight landed just before 2pm. Customers were being driven from Gatwick to Heathrow.’
Another passenger, who was on a different flight to Heathrow, also revealed: ‘I was just struck by lightning on approach to Heathrow. It came just under the flight deck and left the tail – we saw it streak through the cabin.
‘I had heard before that lightning could shine through the hut, but this was the first time I had actually seen it.’
This is a breaking news story. More to come.
A British Airways plane was struck by lightning while landing at Heathrow Airport. (File photo)