IndiGo flight struck by lightning, lands safely at Lucknow airport

An IndiGo flight with 110 people on board landed safely at Lucknow airport on Wednesday after lightning struck the aircraft during its approach, leaving visible damage to the nose.

All 104 passengers and six crew members were unharmed.

Flight 6E925, operating from Patna to Lucknow, took the lightning hit while approaching Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport. Despite the incident, the Airbus A320-251N completed the landing safely.


The aircraft touched down at around 4.04 pm, about eight minutes before its scheduled arrival time of 4.12 pm. The flight was carrying 104 passengers and six crew members.

The extent of the damage was not immediately apparent while the aircraft was in the air. Airport sources said the problem became visible after the plane had cleared the runway and reached its designated parking bay.

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The aircraft, bearing tail registration VT-IQZ, had sustained damage to its nose radome. The radome is the protective structure at the front of the aircraft that houses and shields its weather radar.

According to a person familiar with the matter, the pilots had informed Air Traffic Control about the lightning strike as a precaution. They were not certain during the flight whether the aircraft had suffered any significant damage.

The pilots' decision to report the strike allowed the incident to be flagged even though the aircraft continued its approach and landed normally. The visible damage was limited to the radome, the source said.

The incident did not result in any injuries among passengers or crew members. The aircraft was inspected after it reached its parking bay, when the extent of the damage to its nose became evident.

Lightning strikes involving aircraft are not uncommon, particularly when planes operate in or around thunderstorms. Commercial aircraft are designed with systems and structures intended to withstand such events, although inspections are carried out after a suspected strike to assess any damage.