A lightning struck a LOT Polish Airlines Dreamliner flying to the Dominican Republic. The aircraft had to return to Warsaw Chopin Airport. We received information about the incident at Kontakt24 platform.
"We were up in the air when the lightning struck the plane. It was a moment of terror for the passengers. For a short moment you could see fire, the captain decided to take the machine back to Warsaw airport. The plane is being inspected. We're waiting for a decision if we can board the plane again," one of the passengers, Maciej, told Kontakt24. A TVN24 camera operator was also on board and captured the lightning on camera.
The incident was confirmed by PLL LOT press officer Krzysztof Moczulski. He said the situation took place shortly before 7 a.m. "A plane flying to the Dominican Republic from Chopin Airport had to turn back after being struck by a lightning. At the time, the machine was near Kutno. The plane landed safely at Chopin Airport. No one was hurt," Moczulski said.
He added that once the inspection of the plane has been completed, a decision will be made whether the passengers can board the machine again.
According to flightradar24 portal, it was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which took off at 6:30 a.m. towards Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. It was supposed to reach its destination at 12:30 p.m. local time, but 24 minutes after take off, at 6.54 a.m., it landed back in Warsaw.
In another interview for TVN24, PLL LOT spokesman said that the inspection of the aircraft was taking longer than expected. The passengers were supposed to set off again at 10 a.m., but the take off was moved to 1 p.m. Krzysztof Moczulski explained that another plane and another crew would carry out the flight. "The plane struck by a lightning did not suffer any damage," he assured.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, tvnwarszawa.pl, Kontakt24
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24