Shocked passenger briefly thought engine had died

ABOUT 10 minutes before landing at Queenstown Airport on Sunday there was a loud bang, a flash of white light, and for a few seconds passenger Edward Guy thought it was all over.

He was a passenger on one of two Air New Zealand flights struck by lightning just out of Queenstown on Sunday.

As flight NZ621 en route from Auckland started to descend, the plane first struck some heavy turbulence.

‘‘As we came through the thick clouds there was some pretty heavy turbulence,’’ Mr Guy said.

‘‘Passengers were throwing up.’’

Then about 10 minutes from the airport the plane was struck by lightning.

‘‘There was this intense white light and a bang at the same time. I think it hit somewhere around my feet. I was sitting right next to the engine and thought it had died and that was it.

‘‘The feeling only lasted a few seconds though as I turned and saw the engine was still intact and the plane was flying normally.’’

After it then encountered strong side winds on descent, the plane was rerouted to Christchurch Airport.

‘‘It was the first flight I have been on where people have been clapping and cheering,’’ Mr Guy said.

‘‘Everyone was pretty happy to make it on to the ground, even though it was the wrong destination.’’

After departing Auckland at 12.05pm, they were scheduled to arrive in Queenstown at 1.55pm, but didn’t land until 2.45pm in Christchurch.

‘‘The combination of pretty reasonable turbulence, lightning, strong winds on landing then having to abort the flight — it was an interesting experience,’’ he said.

Flight NZ605 from Wellington to Queenstown was also struck by lightning on Sunday. It too diverted to Christchurch.

Air New Zealand said both the A320 aircraft were undergoing standard engineering checks.

‘‘Lightning strikes are not uncommon. Aircraft are designed with this in mind and our pilots rain for this scenario.’’ — NZME