An Alaska Airlines flight headed from Juneau to Sitka on Monday morning was struck by lightning just before landing.
Passenger Kathy Fitzgerald was on board the 27-minute flight. She said the plane was briefly engulfed in a bright orange and gold flash.
“It was like a giant flashbulb going off throughout the whole plane, coming from outside,” she said. “There was this huge, bright light — there was no loud sound, there was no shimmying or shuddering of the plane.”
In her time flying through Alaska weather, she said she had never experienced anything like it.
Fitzgerald was originally traveling from Anchorage, where flight 62 originated, back home to Ketchikan with her family. The leg between Juneau and Sitka was part of the milk run, and was supposed to continue to Ketchikan and Seattle.
According to a spokesperson for the airline, lightning strikes are not unusual.
“Our aircraft are designed to dissipate the electrical energy of the lightning bolt without damaging the aircraft systems,” the spokesperson said.
The plane landed safely in Sitka, and the spokesperson said maintenance technicians were inspecting the aircraft as a precaution.
The airline eventually cancelled the flight.
