Southwest Airlines investigating possible lightning strike of plane flying to Denver International Airport
Southwest Airlines said lightning might have struck a plane that was headed to Denver International Airport from Tampa, Florida on Sunday.
No one was injured and the plane was able to land safely, but the plane has been grounded while crews look for damage and investigate what happened.
"On May 25, Flight 168 from Tampa International Airport to Denver International Airport sustained a possible lightning strike while inbound to DEN and landed safely," Laura Swift, a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines, told CBS News Colorado on Monday. "Our maintenance teams took the aircraft out of service for inspection. There were no injuries."
Southwest Airlines planes are seen at Denver International Airport, Colorado on Oct. 20, 2023.
Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Flight data from flight tracking service FlightAware shows the plane took off at 6:54 p.m. EDT, over two hours after it was scheduled to, and landed at 8:23 p.m. MDT, arriving at its gate 13 minutes later.
It's not immediately clear where the possible lightning strike occurred, but the plane's mapped course shows it flying over a storm system in central Louisiana and east Texas about halfway through the flight. That area experienced severe weather Sunday evening.
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