Hit by lightning in air, UK plane grounded in Chennai

Saurabh Sinha

New Delhi:





Lightning strike has left a British Airways (BA) wide-body aircraft grounded in Chennai since July 23. According to sources, the London-Chennai flight (BA 35) was hit by lightning soon after take-off on Saturday afternoon. “No malfunction was reported after the lightning strike which happened in London airspace. So the crew decided to continue the almost 10-hour flight to Chennai. The aircraft reached its destination and landed there safely. But after landing when it was inspected, the plane was found to have suffered significant damage,“ said a highly placed aviation source.

 The British carrier mostly uses the latest Dreamliner (Boeing 787) aircraft on London-Chennai route like many of its other India flights.While BA did not comment on the lightning strike and the damage caused by it, it said in a statement: “We apologised to customers and rebooked them onto alternative services after our flight from Chennai to London was cancelled on Sunday following a technical issue. The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority and the aircraft is being inspected by our highly qualified engineers before it returns to service.“ The BA statement shows the plane is grounded since Sunday , when the return flight it was to operate on Chennai-London route, was cancelled and is being examined. Indian aviation agencies are also seeking a report on this lightning strike.

Modern aircraft are built to withstand lightning strikes. While lightning rarely causes structural damage to aircraft, there have been instances of such strikes leaving puncture holes on the surface. Lightning strike can also affect avionics, compasses and engine.