itfcfan

I was on A3 602 to Heathrow yesterday. There were storms around London and on the approach in to Heathrow (about 5 mins out from landing) our plane was struck by lightening. There was a big flash on the right side of the plane (where I was sat) and a very loud bang. Aside from a stressed sounding captain (re-)announcing "seats for landing", the actual landing was uneventful.

How common are lightening strikes on planes? Looking at the return flight (A3 603), it was delayed by a couple of hours. Would this be because a plane would need to be checked over after a lightening strike?

I'm just interested - it's the first I've been on a plane where this has happened.