A United Airlines flight attendant was injured after lightning struck one of the airline's Boeing 737s near Cleveland, Ohio. The lightning strike damaged the aircraft's windshield, frame, and tail, and it remains on the ground in Cleveland following Thursday's accident. United Boeing 737 hit by lightning above Cleveland The event occurred during Flight UA2226 from Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) to Cleveland Hopkins International (CLE) on Thursday.
The flight was operated by a Boeing 737-800 registered as N77530, a 13-year-old airframe that was performing its fourth flight of the day. After taking off from Chicago at a delayed time of 16:07, it completed its journey to Cleveland in less than an hour, landing at 18:02 local time. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, the plane was on approach towards Cleveland when it was struck by lightning, "damaging the windshield and frame" and leaving "burn marks on the tail.
" Additionally, a flight attendant is said to have received treatment for minor injuries, although it did not specify what these injuries were. Data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft remains grounded in Cleveland since landing on Thursday evening. No further details have been disclosed on the severity of the damage - Simple Flying has reached out to United Airlines for comment and will update this story accordingly.
How dangerous are lightning strikes? Lightning strikes do happen on occasion, and planes are designed to withstand them - if.