Passengers on JetBlue flight 324 from Los Angeles (LAX) got an unexpected delay to their travel plans when their plane was struck by lightning shortly after take off. The plane, an Airbus A321 that was headed to New York’s JFK, returned to LAX and landed safety.Lightning strikes are nothing new for the aviation industry. General lightning stats for aircraft show commercial airliners in the United States can expect to be struck by lightning once for every 1000 hours of operation, or roughly once per year. Aircraft are designed to be able to withstand the strikes, although inspections are required after the incident.In a great example of how resistant aircraft are to lightning strikes, passengers were able to tweet about the incident using the onboard WiFi after the strike occurred.For passenger Jake McGraw, the lightning strike and return to LAX was just adding insult to an already less than great day of travel.H/T: USA TodayFeatured Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesSign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.
