A lightning bolt struck the tail of an American Eagle airplane after it landed in Arkansas (Pictures: ViralPress/@gulfstreamguy)
An airplane full of passengers was struck but lightning shortly after landing as spectators witnessed the shocking moment.
An American Eagle plane landed in Arkansas on Sunday afternoon and waited on the tarmac for a heavy storm to let up before taxing to the gate.
Photographer Jason William Hamm recorded video of the Embraer E175 after seeing a lightning bolt strike earlier.
‘Yeah I don’t think it hit the plane,’ Hamm can be heard saying, according to Viral Press. ‘It still would have made an amazing video though.’
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Two seconds later, a lighting bolt strikes the plane right on its tail. Some sparks are seen immediately afterward.
‘Whoa, whoa,’ someone can be heard saying in the background.
‘That one hit!’
Another person says, ‘Wow, that would not be good.’
The Embraer E175 had just landed and was waiting for the storm to pass before moving to the gate (Picture: ViralPress/@gulfstreamguy)
The streak of electricity struck down from the sky on Sunday afternoon (Picture: ViralPress/@gulfstreamguy)
Hamm later said: ‘The plane was fine, it taxied to the gate normally after an extended wait on the taxiway due to the storm.’
The passengers all got off and technicians observed the plane to see if it sustained any damage.
It was not the first time that an aircraft struck by lightning has been captured on video.
A bolt struck a Boeing 737 MAX carrying 140 passengers as it prepared for landing in March 2021. The plane was flying at about 30,000 feet toward Tocumen International Airport in Panama City.
A photographer recorded the moment that the lightning bolt struck the plane on its tail (Picture: ViralPress/@gulfstreamguy)
The clip from inside the cockpit shows the a lightning bolt hit the nose of the plane as pilots navigate in near darkness. The plane landed safely and its fuselage was not damaged, and no one was injured.
In the US, another lighting strike video recently made headlines earlier this month. A doorbell camera recorded the frightening moment that a lightning bolt hit a public works employee who was painting lines at Iselin Middle School in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, during a thunderstorm.
A police officer rushed to the man’s rescue and performed CPR, which is believed to have saved the worker.
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A video captured the moment that a lightning bolt struck an airplane on its tail in Arkansas.