bonzo

Hi all,

I was on PHL->LGW yesterday and to my horror I found it to be a B767 (the horror finally struck me when I saw the big video screens). A quick chat with stuartess revealed that 3 US A330s were struck by lightning on Dec 30/31st and are currently undergoing maintanance. She said she was on one of the A330s when it was struck, but they landed without issues. She also mentioned at PHL->LGW was canceled on Dec31 and Jan 1st due to non-availability of equipment as the old B767 only became available yesterday (was it in the desert??)

Does anyone have more information on the lightning strikes or where the B767s came from?

It was a trully surreal experience as my connecting flight was very late and I was one of the last passanges who barely made the LGW flight. It took me about 30 seconds to realise that I wasn't on the A330...


bonzo

FCYTravis

The 767s weren't in the desert... they run secondary international destinations, and Caribbean flights. Is someone upstairs trying to send a message to the New US?

ByrdluvsAWACO

LOL! I thought the same thing when I first saw this thread. So can we officially say that god doesn't like US.

geo1005

Technically the have one spare widebody in the system (rotating 767 and 330 thru for scheduled work). I was booked on LGW-PHL yesterday (jan 2) and eneded up on the LGW-CLT-DCA flight with upgrades intact (considering myselft VERY luck here...). They had our BPs already printed out. For others, they were passing out a letter that three aircraft were damaged by lightning and they were "frantically" serching for other accomodations for passengers. All in all, the LGW ground staff handled the situation VERY well - they should be praised IMO.

jcooke

Geo, you were lucky. Uncle and Aunt ended up on AA101 LHR-BOS as they didnt find out about the cxl'd plane until I checked on 1/1.

-JC

Kendall

I confirmed tomorrow's (Jan 4) flight and have been told it is back to a 330.
No mention of Lightning, just "Maintenece" issues. US 99 was either cancelled or severely delayed today which should make getting that upgrade interesting....
I seem to recall an earlier thread right around Christmas discussing the 330 maintenece schedule, with several FTer's opining that this is the time of year for that sort of thing.
Kendall

GalleyWench

I was working flight 3 from FCO to PHL on New Year's eve, and we were one of the "hit" airplanes. It was actually a static discharge that we had, about 10 minutes prior to landing. There were several rain showers in the area, and the static built and built and discharged right between the cockpit and my jumpseat. Very loud bang and a huge flash of white light. They didn't hear the bang in the back of the airplane, but the flash was visible throughout the entire cabin. The pilots made an announcement immediately to calm everyone's fears and we landed without incident. Luckily for everyone's nerves it's not something that happens very often.
Happy New Year to everyone!

goheelswks

Yikes, glad to hear everyone was OK and nobody freaked out. Another new "shock" on US, it seems.

Should have paid attention in HS physics so I could understand the whole static electricity thing...

fly747first

You are right. Who likes US Airways? George W. Bush? LOL

PHL

What kind of statement is that?!?@ If anything GW like Southwest, Continental and American - all biggies in his home state.

But I digress. Lighting strikes are actually common among airliners. Since the plane is not grounded(nor are the people in it), there's no real danger to the people, but sometimes the strikes can cause problems with other equipment if they're severe enough.

Murph

Can anyone give the layman's explanation of what happened to GallyWench's flight, and how common it is?

EnvoyBoy

How much do you really want to know the answer to this?

I'm going with the proverbial 'ignorance is bliss'!