Video: Lightning Strikes Delta Aircraft in Atlanta

While a Delta flight was waiting for takeoff at the Atlanta airport, a lightning struck the aircraft on Tuesday. A fellow passenger on the aircraft filmed the scene and is getting rave reviews on the Internet. The video shows a bolt of lightning striking the Delta Boeing 737 while it was parked on the taxiway.

The passengers on board the plane hardly had an idea about the incident unless they checked out YouTube after their journey. Although aircraft are otherwise Faraday cages, protected from lightning strikes, this video will definitely give you some butterflies in your stomach.

The theory behind the lightning strike states that an aircraft made from aluminum is highly conductive. An electrically charged high storm cloud may tend to induce a charge separation or difference in potential between the cloud and the plane.

However, the difference in potential between the plane and the tarmac helps the lightning to ground itself keeping the aircraft unharmed.