Plane Struck By Lightning, Diverted To FLL
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- A lightning strike caused a Florida flight headed out of the state to make a stop in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday.
The flight was headed from Tampa to Atlantic City when lightning struck.
That's when the pilot decided to divert the plane to Fort Lauderdale -Hollywood International Airport.
Spirit Airlines officials said the plane responded fine after the strike and did not lose mobility or power. They said at no point was any of the crew or passengers safety compromised.
Click here to watch Carey Codd's report.
Airline officials said maintenance crews are working to inspect the plane for any possible damages.
Passengers were later put on a spare plane which took off Tuesday evening.
Airline officials said the pilot diverted the flight since the airline has an extra plane at the airport but some Spirit passengers questioned the extra plane scenario.
Spirit canceled a scheduled flight to Minneapolis. Several of those passengers said they were bumped from their flight so the passengers on the lightning strike plane could continue to Atlantic City.
The Minneapolis passengers said they were told it was because of an issue regarding the workload of the Spirit crew. Those passengers whose flight got cancelled are not happy.
"It's very unfair. There's not much we can do about it and here we are in the situation. Hopefully, we can at least get a hotel room or something," said Nick Selvog who was bumped from his flight.
Earlier this year, another Spirit Airlines plane was struck by lightning as it flew from Fort Lauderdale to Atlantic City.
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