While lightning strikes on airliners aren’t that rare, videos of them don’t come up that often. University of Washington student Owen Craft was therefore understandably excited when he got footage of two airliners being hit while on approach to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last week. “I was stunned for a second because I couldn’t believe what I just saw,” Craft told KOMO News. “After the second (plane) got hit, I knew I was on to something spectacular!”
Of course, the aircraft were fine but passengers did notice the encounter. “I heard a loud pop,” said a woman interviewed by the station. Lightning in Seattle isn’t even that common, especially at this time of year, but the area has had a long spell of unseasonably warm weather and a recent shift has sent some cold fronts into that pool of warm air. Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper said neither of the pilots even mentioned the lightning strikes to air traffic control.
