A Southwest plane was seemingly struck by lightning during Memorial Day weekend
A Southwest Airlines plane was seemingly struck by lightning while on approach to landing.
Flight 168, from Tampa, Florida, to Denver, took off around 7 p.m. local time on Sunday — about two and a half hours behind schedule, per data from Flightradar24.
The journey, during the busy Memorial Day travel period, appeared to be going smoothly until it was about to land.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said the flight crew reported a lightning strike.
A Southwest spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that there was "a possible lightning strike" on the aircraft.
"Our maintenance teams took the aircraft out of service for inspection. There were no injuries," the spokesperson added.
The Aviation Herald reported that air traffic control could no longer hear the pilots after the strike. However, it added that controllers were able to transmit instructions to them, and the 737 landed safely in Denver 12 minutes later.
Jonathan Erdman, a senior meteorologist at Weather.com, told the outlet that the airport reported lightning in the hour before the flight landed.
"This is a challenge flying into and out of Denver this time of year, as afternoon and evening thunderstorms can be almost a daily occurrence," he added.
The National Weather Service says airliners are struck by lightning about once or twice a year on average.
Jets avoid thunderstorms as much as possible because aircraft can trigger strikes because their presence enhances the electric fields found in storms.
Commercial planes are designed with several parts to help mitigate the impact of lightning, such as a metal mesh that conducts electricity away from passengers and internal electronics.
Last New Year's Eve, a United Airlines plane from Newark to London turned around and diverted to Boston after the crew reported a lightning strike.
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