A Jet2 flight bound for the Canary Islands was struck by lightning on Tuesday, June 9, forcing the aircraft to divert to Manchester Airport after circling over the Liverpool area.
Passengers on the Leeds Bradford departure were later transferred onto a different aircraft already on the ground at Manchester, turning what began as a routine holiday flight into a sharp interruption for everyone on board.
Firefighters were called to a runway at Manchester Airport at about 4:30pm, and three fire engines from Wythenshawe and Cheadle fire station, along with a Technical Response Unit from Leigh, attended the incident on Ringway Road. They remained there for around an hour.
That emergency response is the part that makes this incident stand out. The flight was able to continue after the diversion, but Manchester still had to treat it as a runway incident, leaving open the questions of whether the aircraft was damaged or whether anyone was hurt. Those details have not been confirmed.
For passengers, the practical outcome was clear: the journey did not end in the Canary Islands, but it did continue after the diversion once a replacement aircraft was available. The unanswered question is whether the lightning strike caused anything more than the disruption seen on Tuesday afternoon.
