Lightning strike leaves hole in plane at Tan Son Nhat airport

By Gia Minh October 11, 2022 | 01:45 am PT

A hole created by lightning strike on the hull of a Vietnam Airlines plane at HCMC's Tan Son Nhat Airport, October 10, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Viet Chau

Lightning struck a hole through the hull of a Vietnam Airlines plane at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, sending two ground technicians to the hospital.

The Vietnam Airlines A321 plane, which had just returned from Phu Quoc to Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport, got struck by lightning Monday night. Two employees of Vietnam Airport Ground Services Company Limited (VIAGS) were standing beneath the plane on standby.

After the lightning struck, both employees were stunned and given first aid, before being transported to hospital. They were bleeding and vomiting upon admission. Their health is stable as of Tuesday morning.

The plane had to stop operations to be repaired.

A representative of Tan Son Nhat airport said lightning strikes are common for planes, both for those parked on the ground and those in the air. However, human injuries are rare, it was added.

In April last year, a runway at Tan Son Nhat got damaged by lightning, forcing its operation to be suspended for over an hour.