Passenger plane from Glasgow to Barra struck by lightning

Updated
Passenger plane from Glasgow to Barra struck by lightning
Passenger plane from Glasgow to Barra struck by lightning


A passenger plane travelling from Glasgow to Barra was struck by lighting in high winds on Monday.

Loganair's Twin Otter plane was carrying 10 passengers and two crew members at the time, and all were said to be unharmed when the plane landed safely at Barra, located in the Outer Hebrides.

The passengers reported hearing a loud bang and seeing a flash as the plane battled against strong winds.

Loganair chief operating officer Phil Preston told the BBC: "On Monday afternoon the captain of a Twin Otter travelling from Glasgow to Barra with 10 passengers and two crew on board reported a lightning bolt close to the aircraft.

"As is standard procedure with incidents such as these, an inspection was later completed by our engineering crew in our hangar at Glasgow Airport. There was evidence that a wing tip had been struck, but the Twin Otter was cleared to continue operations."

He added: "Such incidents are not uncommon when flying in adverse weather and our pilots and aircraft are perfectly capable of dealing with these situations when they arise."

But it's not all bad news for Barra airport this week. At the end of January, the iconic beach landing strip was named the second most stunning airport approach in the world, reports the Scotsman.

The results came from a survey carried out by private air charter company, Private Fly, of 32 unusual airport approaches around the globe, and was voted for by travel fans and pilots.

The airstrip, which is only accessible at low tide, was competing against the likes of Bermuda, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro and Amsterdam Schiphol, and was only beaten to the top spot by St Maarten Princess Juliana International Airport in the Caribbean.

Back in December 2011, Barra was named in two polls in one week - as the most beautiful and one of the scariest landing spots in the world.

It came first in a poll of 1000 pilots and travellers, carried out again by Private Fly, as the most scenic place to land a plane.

But, in the same week, it was also named by National Geographic as one of the globe's most treacherous landing strips in its World's Seven Most Extreme Airports round-up.

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