Lightning Strike Forces Hawaii-Bound Flight to Return to Las Vegas

by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 12:20 PM ET, Tue October 3, 2023

Lightning strikes on airplanes are not uncommon.

After all, you’re talking about a metal tube flying at 35,000 feet. It’s a natural phenomenon and an attraction between two objects. Rarely do passengers feel it, and most of the time they don’t even know about it.

This time was different.

A flight traveling from Las Vegas to Honolulu was struck severely enough by a bolt of lightning that it had to turn back and land again at Harry Reid International Airport.

The incident happened Sunday night aboard a Hawaiian Airlines flight. 

According to the flight tracking service FlightAware, the plane took off at 6:25 p.m. and was in the air for barely two hours before having to return. Hawaiian Airlines confirmed the incident and said there were 289 people aboard, including 11 crew members.

The airline paid for hotel accommodations for all passengers on the plane.

For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.

Topics From This Article to Explore