US Dash-8 Lands at ISP After Lightning Strike
From Newsday.com
Quote:
Plane hit by lightning lands at MacArthur
Originally published: January 7, 2011 3:39 PM
Updated: January 7, 2011 4:30 PM
By JENNIFER MALONEY
A US Airways plane that reported electrical problems after a lightning strike landed without incident at Long Island MacArthur Airport at 3:13 p.m. Friday, Federal Aviation Administration and airport officials said. Carrying 32 passengers and three crew members, US Airways flight 4507 from Philadelphia to New Haven was diverted to MacArthur in Ronkonkoma, airport spokeswoman Catherine Green said.
One passenger said the lightning strike sounded "like a firecracker." "We were just cruising and basically I saw a flash," said Brandon Rapp, 21, a junior from New Orleans studying chemical engineering at Yale. "I'm not quick to panic. A couple of people screamed."
A US Airways staff member announced to passengers waiting in the MacArthur terminal that a bus would take them to New Haven. Before touchdown, MacArthur issued a "limited call out," summoning three local fire departments - Holbrook, Bohemia and Lakeland - to stand ready to assist on the tarmac, Green said.
The aircraft, operated by US Airways subsidiary Piedmont Airlines, was a Bombardier Dash 8 - a twin-engine turboprop aircraft that seats up to 39 passengers.
