Mid-air scare for Otago Volts as the plane carrying the team was hit by lightning

Nature is something humans have little control over and one of the most fatal acts is a lightning strike. Imagine a lightning strike on a plane that is in the air. Something that strange happened with New Zealand’s domestic cricket team Otago Volts. Having departed from Christchurch on their way to Dunedin, the plane carrying the team and other passengers was struck by lightning. The lightning collided with the plane while it was descending towards Dunedin Airport.

It is also understood that the return flight from Dunedin to Christchurch has been deferred because of some engineering inspection. The captain of the Otago Volts Cricket team described the experience as “particularly nasty” and pretty scary. Air New Zealand spokesperson Hannah Searle who said that the ATR Turboprop from Christchurch “encountered a lightning strike” the time it was getting down towards Dunedin Airport.

Lightning strikes aren’t uncommon

“Lightning strikes are not uncommon and aircrafts are designed keeping this in mind,” Serle was quoted as saying by New Zealand Herald.

The captain of the team Jacob Duffy said, “She was an interesting flight home. Coming into Dunedin was particularly nasty.” Duffy also mentioned that the plane hit by the lightning strike was not even recognized by the passengers. He pointed out that there was a white flash but no tremors were felt while in the plane and no passenger said a word about it.

The coach of the team Rob Walter said that he knew something had struck the plane, however, everything happened so fast that there was no time to interpret what had transpired.

“There was no time to realise what had happened, as the plane was in the middle of a tricky descent,” Walter said.

Otago Volts defeated Canterbury by four wickets at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch in round nine of the tournament. The team would rest up for the next few days before heading to Invercargill to play Auckland Aces on Saturday.

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