Air Canada plane struck by lightning en route to Tel Aviv
Flight from Toronto to Ben-Gurion diverted to Cyprus after being caught in Sunday’s storm
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleRaoul Wootliff is a former Times of Israel political correspondent and Daily Briefing podcast producer.
An Air Canada flight from Toronto was struck by lightning during Sunday’s heavy storm minutes before its scheduled landing in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, it was revealed Monday.
The plane was diverted to Cyprus’ Paphos International Airport.
The Boeing 787-800 from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport had begun its descent when the aircraft sustained a lightning strike, prompting the crew to abort the approach at about 3,500 feet. The aircraft landed safely in Paphos 50 minutes later.
No injuries were reported among the 300 passengers and staff were on board the flight. The passengers spend the night in Cyprus and are expected to set off for Israel Monday afternoon.
The lightning strike came as a heavy storm engulfed the region from Lebanon to Egypt throughout Sunday.
One person was killed in Israel and 20 more injured as high winds and heavy rain battered the country, knocking down trees and a crane in the central region, and flooding roads in the south.
מזג אוויר סוער בכל הארץ: מנופים ועצים קרסו. צפו במנוף קורס במרכז תל אביב. pic.twitter.com/JkRVP5vmTn
— הערוץ הראשון (@Channel1IBA) October 25, 2015
The rain is expected to continue Monday and throughout the week.
In January lightning struck an air traffic control tower in Ben-Gurion Airport, harming its control systems. Later the same day, lightning struck again in the airport, this time hitting an EasyJet plane and damaging it but causing no injuries.
The Times of Israel Community.