Two British Airways flights were struck by lightning within hours of each other as chaotic weather cancelled over 100 flights, affecting around 10,000 passengers on Sunday and Monday
Bad weather caused chaos in the skies as two British Airways flights were struck by lightning and 125 were grounded.
Rain and storms across the Atlantic affected thousands of travellers this week after Hurricane Beryl careered through parts of the Mexico and Caribbean last week, leaving 11 people dead. It also struck Texas in the US this morning.
Around 10,000 people were affected including 51 BA flights from Heathrow being scrapped on Sunday. A further 31 were cancelled on Monday.
Budget airline easyJet cancelled was also badly impacted, cancelling 43 flights over the course of two days. Ryanair did not cancel flights but suffered delays, while a number of airlines also cancelled flights at Gatwick.
Aviation expert Julian Bray told MailOnline the weather “is completely upside down at the moment.” BA also blamed the weather after two of their aircraft were hit by lightning.
Dramatic images showed lightning striking BA919, which had to be diverted to Gatwick while en route from Stuttgart, Germany, following the strike. The Sun reported that one passenger, Jeco, said the crew were “amazing.”
Lightning strikes on commercial planes are common. The airline Pegasus said research shows “very aircraft is struck by a lightning once a year on average.”
Planes are painted with an anti-static paint and are engineered in such a way that lightning goes back into the air. Generally, no or minor damage is caused by lightning but passengers can become alarmed by explosion sounds.
Passengers affected by the cancellations over Sunday and Monday are unlikely to be eligible for compensation as the disruption is deemed to be out of airlines’ control. But they are entitled to assistance, which could involve refreshments, overnight accommodation and rebooking with alternative carriers.
A BA spokesperson said: “Due to air traffic control restrictions and adverse weather, like other airlines we’ve had to make a small number of alterations to our schedule. We know this will be frustrating for our customers and our teams are working hard to get them on to alternative flights as soon as possible, with the vast majority already booked onto services that will fly later today.”
An easyJet spokesperson said: “EasyJet operated around 1,800 flights yesterday and is operating a similar number today, however, some flights yesterday evening and three flights from London Gatwick this morning have unfortunately been disrupted due to the knock-on impact of adverse weather and air traffic control delays.
“While this is outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused and are providing impacted customers with hotel accommodation and meals as well as a refund or a transfer to an alternative flight.”
