BA plane from Gatwick to Glasgow struck by lightning

A British Airways flight from Gatwick Airport to Glasgow was struck by lightning on Monday, causing major panic on board.

The plane was struck while on the descent, and one passenger fainted in fright.

The pilot had already been forced to change the direction of the landing due to high winds.

Suddenly passengers heard a loud bang and witnessed a flash of orange, reports the Daily Mail.

As soon as passengers were allowed to disembark, engineers began inspecting the plane.

According to News24, British Airways insists that their fleet are made to withstand on lightning strikes, which are relatively common.

A spokesperson for the airline said: "The aircraft landed safely and engineers are carrying out an inspection before it returns to London. The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority.

"Lightning strikes are fairly common, and aircraft are designed to cope with them.

"We have apologised to customers due to travel to London on the aircraft this afternoon for the delay to their flight and are re-booking as many as possible onto services departing later this afternoon."

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