SEATTLE -- Some passengers on a flight into Seattle had a front row seat to the thunderstorm that was blowing through the city Monday afternoon.
Trent Buys had his camera rolling in Seattle's South Lake Union area when a lightning bolt struck and apparently went through a plane on its way to the ground.
While being struck by lightning could sound frightening to those on board, airplane lightning strikes are not that uncommon and the jets are built to withstand the jolt.
As lightning hits the plane, the electricity flows on the outer surface of the plane and then continues on its way through the air, according to the Washington Post. They add the FAA estimates each plane gets hit by lightning about once a year in the United States.
And sometimes the airplane can trigger lightning itself!
Final Score: Seattle 7, Dallas 20,000
As far as the Seattle storm, it was pretty tame overall as most thunderstorms are around here. The National Weather Service only registered four lightning strikes on the ground in the Seattle area during the storm, with two strikes more detected in Pierce County.
Chris Vagasky with Vaisala Group, which also tracks lightning, says their sensors picked up 13 overall lightning strikes within 50 miles of Seattle, of which 7 hit the ground.
To compare, Vagasky says thunderstorms in the greater Dallas area Monday registered over 20,000 lightning strikes.
Of course, it only takes one lightning bolt to be dangerous -- something looks like it was hit pretty hard near Lake Union!
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