Lightning strikes near plane at New Zealand airport, pic goes viral

Reuters photo

New Zealand: A pic showing two bolts of lightning striking a passenger plane on the runway at New Zealand’s Christchurch International Airport on Wednesday has gone viral on social media.

In the picture, it appears as though the plane miraculously escaped from getting hit by those powerful bolts of lightning.

GCH Aviation employee Daniel Currie was watching the storm and assessing the risk for the Airbus A380 to be moved inside the hangers at 3:30 p.m local time on Wednesday when he captured the moment on his mobile phone.

"The view out our window onto the tarmac today!" the company wrote on Facebook. "The Emirates plane was waiting for the storm to pass."

The aviation operator said the lightning did not directly hit the Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft and there appeared to be no damage to the plane or harm to passengers.

According to reports, the Meteorological department of New Zealand had issued thunderstorm warnings for the area. The weather warnings were later lifted.

(With Reuters inputs)