10:02, 19 June 2017

Lightning strikes the plane en route from Istanbul to Tbilisi

A thunderbolt at an aircraft of the "AtlasGlobal" airline flying from Istanbul to Tbilisi caused its return to the departure airport shortly after take-off. Later, passengers were sent to Tbilisi by another aircraft.

Today, passengers of the Istanbul-Tbilisi flight told about the accident.

"It was such a situation that we got into a turbulent zone, which made us very nervous. Then, it turned out that a lightning struck our plane," Nutsa Pargalava said, in particular. According to her story, there were no victims.

David Loladze, a journalist of the "Rustavi-2" TV Company, was a passenger of the same flight. He said that the lightning struck the plane some 15-20 minutes after take-off. "We all felt that some ring was created; everything was illuminating. Then, control problems appeared; accordingly, the pilot decided to return and land at the AtaturkAirport," said David Loladze, who is quoted, same as Ms Pargalava, by the "Rustavi-2".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.