EasyJet flight makes emergency landing after being struck by lightning

An EasyJet flight was forced to make an emergency landing after the plane was struck by lightning.

The flight from Milano to Naples was unable to reach its destination after lightning hit the plane's wing.

The Campania region in the South of Italy was hit by heavy rains which reportedly made it very difficult to reach Naples International Airport.

The troublesome weather prompted an emergency landing at the Bari Karol Wojtyla Airport.

Thankfully, the 90 passengers who were reportedly on board were all unharmed by the incident, and cabin crews and medical personnel were on hand to assist the passengers on board off the plane.

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Local media has claimed the passengers were then taken to Naples by public transport.

It's been reported that the lightning strike was the first of its kind to hit a commercial flight in over 15 years, however, this remains unconfirmed.

A spokesman for EasyJet said: "We can confirm that flight EJU2889 from Milan to Naples diverted to Bari, following a lightning strike on approach to Naples, purely as a precaution and in line with our procedures.

"The aircraft is equipped to safely withstand lightning and at no point was the safety of the flight compromised.

"The aircraft landed routinely and passengers continued their journey to Naples by coach. 

"EasyJet would like to apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused. The safety of its passengers and crew is the airline's highest priority."

An image of the damaged plane caused great concern on social media as people expressed their shock concerning the occurrence. 

The photo was captioned: "An airliner was struck by lightning at Naples Capodichino airport. Without a doubt, Campania is the region most affected by this phase of bad weather."

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Twitter user 'AlbertoBelfiori' said: "Recall that the plane is a Faraday cage, so lightning generally passes through it with little damage and almost never catastrophic."

In response, one person wondered : "Milan-Naples and emergency landing in Bari?" while someone else simply commented: "What a blow!"

A fourth added: "Unusual to see that much damage… The static wicks didn’t even touch the sides with that one…"

Someone else thought: "This is the problem with composite aircraft damage with lighting, compared to that of the old Aluminium, the damage is far more dramatic & the repair area is far greater."