plane struck by THREE lightning bolts in mid air caught on tape

A bright flash of light and booming noises in a cramped seat thousands of feet in the air would be enough to put off even the most hardened fliers.

But passengers landing at Birmingham airport on Friday afternoon were led by example as their captain coolly steered them through three lightning blasts and left it until afterwards to calmly explain what happened.

Passengers spoke of a 'massive bang' as one of the bolts struck the body of the KLM service from Amsterdam, but the blasts had no effect on the landing, which proceeded as normal to touch down at 4.30pm.

And after the plane, a Boeing 737, had touched down on the runway, the captain confirmed to his passengers that the service had been hit, saying simply: 'Ladies and gentlemen, you may have noticed we were hit by lightning.'

Tony Everitt, 51, was one of 174 passengers on board the flight, from which ominous 'dark skies' could be seen just before the first bolt struck.

The businessman, who was returning from a conference, said: 'It was incredible - there was one massive bang. Only moments before, I’d noticed the dark skies and told a passenger sitting next to me that I was surprised there was no thunder and lightning.

'After the bang, my initial thought was the engine had blown-up. Surprisingly, it wasn’t frightening, it was exciting. 

'You are waiting for something else to happen, then you realise nothing has gone wrong.'

The picture of the plane, caught up in the centre of several branches of a lightning bolt, was taken by Tracy Meakin White, 42, who was watching the storm.

She said: 'I didn’t even see the plane at first, I was just clicking on my phone and then afterwards I saw the aircraft.

'I think it is a once in a lifetime picture, I doubt I will see anything like that again, I am not a photographer, it was just a stroke of luck I got the shot.'

A statement from KLM said: 'Occasionally aircraft is hit multiple times by lightning. All pilots and air crew are trained to deal with this.'

A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: 'All aircraft landed safely without incident on Friday afternoon.'