Lightning strikes a hole in Icelandair Flight to Denver

[Severe Clear]

"There were some scary moments Tuesday on a Denver-bound Icelandair flight after lightning struck, blasting a hole in the nose of the plane."


Photos and story:

Denver-bound Icelandair flight from Reykjavik hit by lightning - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_27872975/denver-bound-icelandair-flight-from-reykjavik-hit-by)

[Lonewolf_50]

"When you fly internationally, you're not subject to the same FAA regulations as domestic airlines are," Price said.
What was that supposed to mean, I wonder?
"I think the entire plane may have had drinks," he said. "When we got off the plane, everyone was talking about it."
Does Icelandair charge for drinks, as so many American carriers do? (It was seven dollars per on my recent flight from DFW to SJC). If so, then maybe there is a small silver lining to that cloud from the PoV of the counters of legumes. (Apologies for the horrible puns / plays on words imbedded in that sentence. I shall accept flogging as fair punishment. )

All in all a "good news" event: nobody gets hurt, all ends well at the destination.

[Octane]

I would of thought they should of turned back being that close to base?!

[NigelOnDraft]

I would of thought they should of turned back being that close to base?! Out of interest, "why" should they have turned back?

They were struck by lightning, there were no indications of any problems, so continued.

[tdracer]

Octane - airplanes get hit by lightning every day, literally (on average, every commercial jetliner is hit ~1/year). Everything still worked, no indications of a problem, so they kept going. I'm sure the pilots were as shocked as anyone when they saw the hole (although they may have wondered why it was louder than normal on the flight deck during the flight).