Guernsey plane U-turn not caused by 'lightning strike'

The Aurigny ATR aircraft, similar to the one pictured, was checked as a precaution

An aircraft carrying 69 passengers was forced to make a U-turn after initial claims it was "struck by lightning".

National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said reports from the crew said "a lightning strike over the Isle of Wight had damaged electrical equipment" on the flight from Guernsey to Manchester.

But after engineers examined the plane, airline Aurigny said it did "not believe it was actually struck by lightning".

There was also no damage to the plane.

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A spokesman for the airline said although the flight did encounter a thunderstorm they did not believe it had been hit.

He said the aircraft had been checked "as a precaution" but there was "no damage".

NATS said the plane had been on course to divert to land at Southampton Airport but this would have meant "flying further into the storm at that time".

Guernsey Airport confirmed the GR670 aircraft landed without incident and passengers were transferred to another airline.

The flight returned to Guernsey as a "precaution"