A student pilot captured a short video of a passenger plane being struck by lightning shortly after takeoff at Vancouver International Airport. Although the footage looked shocking, the aircraft appeared not to be affected at all.
According to CityNews, the incident occurred at approximately 7:30 pm on Sunday (3rd). Ethan West was filming the takeoff and landing of planes at the airport as a spare time hobby, just as he usually did when he was not taking flying lessons.
He focused his camera on an Air Canada passenger plane that had just taken off and was heading to London’s Heathrow Airport. Suddenly a flash of light hit the plane, and the entire screen lit up. People in the background exclaimed, but the plane seemed unaffected and continued to fly.
West said that this is a 777-300 passenger aircraft, which is also the largest twin-engine aircraft. This was also the first time he had seen lightning strike a plane directly, and he was really lucky to be able to capture this footage.
He said that based on the knowledge he has learned, there are lightning protection devices on the aircraft, and being hit by lightning is usually not a big problem, but if this happens, it will usually be checked after landing.
According to the National Weather Service, airliners are struck by lightning once or twice a year on average. Aircraft are designed with conductive paths that can withstand electric shocks and conduct current away.
