Aurigny jet lightning strike on Guernsey to Gatwick route

The jet can carry 122 passengers

A plane flying from Guernsey was struck by lightning as it approached Gatwick Airport.

Aurigny's jet, an Embraer 195, was caught in a thunderstorm on Thursday at about 11:15 BST, but was able to land normally and no-one was injured.

The airline did not to say how many passengers were on board.

The plane was grounded while engineers inspected damage to the rear of the upper tail, but Aurigny said it would return to service for the 19:00 flight.

A spokesman said it had been certified to fly after a detailed evaluation, but further work to carry out a permanent repair would be undertaken next week.

The plane was able to land normally at Gatwick Airport

An airline spokesman said: "We were cleared to land by air traffic control and no other aircraft, operating in the same conditions, were similarly affected. Our aircraft landed normally and no-one was injured or adversely affected in any way."

It chartered replacement aircraft to get passengers to and from London Gatwick on Thursday evening, but some passengers complained on Twitter about a nine-hour hold up.

Dave Brooks, abandoned his trip after waiting at Gatwick for four hours, claiming there was "poor communication, delayed refreshments, no contingency plan".

A company spokesman said one of its ATR72 aircraft was operating the route on Thursday at full capacity, "but due to its size, 72 versus 122 seats, it could not accommodate all the passengers booked to fly on the Embraer sectors".

"We issued refreshment vouchers at Gatwick and we kept passengers informed... we got back as many passengers as we could," the company said.

One passenger took to Twitter to complain about the knock-on impact on her journey from Gatwick to Guernsey

Flights on Friday were further disrupted by fog, which stopped flights in or out of the Channel Islands until about 13:00 BST.

An Aurigny spokesman said the airline had chartered two planes while the jet was out of service.

He said the return of the jet would ensure all passengers "are where they should be this evening". However, he warned baggage may have to be left behind in Gatwick.

"Unfortunately, because of the extremely wet weather, coupled with the length of Guernsey's runway, [the chartered 737 aircraft's] payload capabilities are reduced.

"This means we've taken the decision, where necessary, to leave bags behind."

The spokesman said the airline hoped to get any luggage that has to be left behind back to Guernsey on Saturday.

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