Air New Zealand flight NZ676 to Dunedin was struck shortly after takeoff at 6.55am this morning, and was diverted to Christchurch afterwards.
Tradie Quincy Sio told NZME that the bad weather already made the flight ‘‘feel treacherous’’ as turbulence set in as soon as they took off.
He said the plane was ‘‘shaking violently,’’ and after ten minutes in the air, a deafening ‘‘bang’’ sounded out.
‘‘Everyone was s*** scared. Everyone was off their seat. There were people yelling and screaming, it was crazy,’’ Mr Sio told NZME.
A ‘‘large, orange fireball’’ could be seen on the plane's left wing.
Air New Zealand chief operations officer Alex Marren said the flight had suffered a lightning strike.
‘‘The aircraft is now undergoing standard engineering checks, and as a result, [the flight] was cancelled,’’ he said.
Customers were being reaccommodated on other services and they have added an additional flight from Christchurch to Dunedin to get passengers to the city.
‘‘While lightning strikes are relatively rare, our pilots are well-trained in these situations.’’
