Passengers on board a Kuala Lumpur-Chennai flight had some anxious moments when lightning struck the aircraft twice while it was in the air.
Actor Bharath, who was on board the Malaysian Airlines flight, said, "The aircraft, about 20 minutes after the take-off, was cruising at an altitude of about 20,000 feet when the lightning struck for the first time. We saw streaks of light through the windows. First, we thought the cabin lights were suddenly switched on. As the light disappeared, lightning struck once again, this time on the right wing and the flight descended abruptly. I could feel the fall in my stomach. As stewards also panicked, we thought the aircraft had caught fire. I could hear loud cries from passengers and crew. About 15 minutes later, the pilot addressed the passengers and explained what had happened. He said the aircraft had stabilised and there was no damage due to the lightning. He said the journey would continue as per schedule, but added that in the last 20 years of his flying he had never had such an experience. It was our luck that the pilot was very much on his seat and the flight was not on auto-pilot mode. Otherwise, the fall would have been deeper."
Another passenger, V Pradeep, said, "I was sitting near the wing and for a moment I was motionless. Though the pilot reassured us that the aircraft was safe, passengers were tense till the flight landed at Chennai. We were all eager to get out first."
However, there was no official confirmation about lightning striking the aircraft from Malaysian Airlines management. Wan Ibrahim, area manager of Malaysian Airlines said, "We haven't received any information about our aircraft getting hit by lightning and there is no official confirmation or reports available about any such incident from either the pilot or the flight engineers. They would not have reported because it is not unusual. Further, the flight arrived on time and hence we did not suspect any problem."
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