Delta Plane Struck By Lightning At Atlanta Airport [Video]
Video taken earlier this week and posted to YouTube has revealed a Delta Airlines plane being struck by lightning while waiting out inclement weather on the ground in Atlanta, though the man responsible for the clip didn’t realize at first what he had filmed.
The video was taken on Tuesday, August 18, according to CNN. A YouTube user by the name of Jack Perkins recorded a line of grounded aircraft waiting to take off at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while they remained rain soaked and grounded. Roughly halfway through the clip, at the 18-second mark, lightning can be seen briefly striking one of the 737s as it rests on the runway.
#NationalAviationDay PHOTO OF THE DAY from #ATL @airlineguys @airlineguys @AirlineGeeks @vargasmoni @apoure25 #avgeek pic.twitter.com/PFYphKsl1H
— Eric (@GoldboxATL) August 20, 2015
“While filming the line of planes all stacked up during a ground hold in Atlanta on 8/18/15 I happened to capture this direct lightning strike on a 737,” Perkins wrote.
Astonishingly, Perkins didn’t realize at first what he caught on film, as Today reports, only noting later on that he had recorded it. Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant confirmed that the airline was aware of the lightning strike, and that the affected plane was bound for Las Vegas. Though the Boeing 737-900R aircraft carried six crew members and 111 passengers, no injuries were reported.
“As with any event involving aircraft, Delta is doing a thorough investigation of the circumstances around this flight as safety is always Delta’s top priority… Aircraft design allows lightning bolts to be safely redirected. Fuselage structure and industrial-grade insulation acts as (a) super-conductive lightning rod that rechannels lightning around and away from customers and crew and out into the ground via the landing gear.”
Video shows lightning striking a #Delta plane on the ground at the Atlanta airport: http://t.co/QSeTDAOxfq pic.twitter.com/T5TAnI9GeP
— CNN (@CNN) August 20, 2015
Earlier this year, another video seemingly depicting a Southwest jet striking a drone on takeoff quickly went viral after it was posted online, as the Inquisitr previously reported. The video was uploaded to LiveLeak, where commenters wildly debated whether or not the clip was real.
Passenger captures moment lightning strikes a Delta Airlines plane http://t.co/bqEtEdOOAB pic.twitter.com/VuRa2wMknj
— The Independent (@Independent) August 21, 2015
While incidents involving drones are still quite rare, commercial passenger jets are struck by lightning with a frequency that would alarm most travelers. The aircraft are, however, specifically designed with just such a situation in mind, meaning that even those aboard the Delta jet in Atlanta were safe during the lightning strike they experienced.
[Image via YouTube/ Jack Perkins]
