A British Airways flight, BA919 from Stuttgart to Heathrow, was struck by lightning on its approach to the airport, forcing an emergency diversion. The incident occurred today, leaving passengers in shock as the plane had to be redirected to Gatwick Airport.
The flight departed from Germany shortly after 1 pm local time (12 pm BST) and was scheduled to arrive at Heathrow at 1:40 pm. Due to severe weather conditions, the pilots made the decision to divert to Gatwick, where passengers landed around 2 pm. From there, they were transported by bus to Heathrow.
Passenger Jeco recounted the experience to The Sun, praising the crew’s response: “The crew were amazing when our flight got struck by lightning on the approach to Heathrow. It was shocking. The flight had to divert to Gatwick.”
Images shared by passengers depicted the flight’s route, which showed the plane traveling smoothly before abruptly circling and changing course away from Heathrow. Another passenger described the experience as the “flight from hell,” mentioning earlier delays due to overheated brakes in Stuttgart.
A British Airways spokesperson confirmed the diversion, stating, “BA919 diverted to Gatwick earlier this afternoon due to weather-related conditions in the region. The flight landed just before 2 pm. Customers were driven from Gatwick to Heathrow.”
Lightning strikes on aircraft are relatively common and typically harmless. Experts note that most planes experience such strikes once or twice a year. Another passenger on a different flight to Heathrow reported a similar lightning strike on X, describing how it entered near the flight deck and exited through the tail, an event they witnessed firsthand.
This incident follows a recent BA IT failure that left many passengers stranded on planes and facing long delays at Heathrow. The UK’s busiest airport revealed that travelers from Terminal 5 encountered delays due to a malfunction in BA’s Allocation systems, a problem that did not affect other airlines. This glitch occurred just a day after a ground vehicle caught fire near a BA plane parked at Terminal 5.