A student pilot took a video of a passenger airplane in B.C. that was being struck by lightning. Ethan West calls himself as a plane spotter, a hobbyist who loves watching and recording aircraft.
He was at Larry Berg Flight Path Park, near the end of the south runway at Vancouver International Airport, and he noted a Boeing 777-300ER, which was one of his favorite aircraft that was departing. He started to record the plane in the air when it was hit by lightning.
In a statement, Air Canada confirmed that a flight leaving YVR had a lightning strike. The plane was checked upon arriving at Heathrow Airport and has continued service. The airline said its planes are made to withstand lightning strikes and all aircraft are taken out of service to be checked by engineers after they are hit.
Ethan West also said that he’s seen many comments on social media raising concerns about how the strike could cause severe injury.
“That’s just not the case, says West. “These aircraft are designed to face these types of lightning strikes.”According to the U.S. National Weather Service, a commercial plane is hit by lightning an average of one or two times a year.
The service says that aircraft often initiate the strike because their existence increases the ambient electric fields typical for thunderstorms and facilitates electrical breakdown through the air. While lightning hitting a plane may not be too rare, video capturing a strike is rare.
West says he’s very happy that he was in the right place at the right time. “From what I know, according to the weather forecast, there was no lightning predicted, so it was completely unexpected,” he said. “At that time, I wasn’t thinking about it even. I was just thinking about getting a cool video of the Triple Seven departing, “ he added.
