Passengers left terrified after Ryanair flight to Dublin Airport is diverted after being hit by lightning

Passengers on a Ryanair flight from Bulgaria to Dublin were left terrified after the plane they were travelling on was struck by lightning during a storm.

The flight took off from the capital Sofia and was en route to Ireland late last night when the incident occurred during extreme weather conditions.

It’s understood that the flight was initially delayed before it took off for the Irish capital.

However, according to a passenger, less than 10 minutes into the flight, the plane was struck by lightning during stormy conditions leaving passengers shaken.

"People were screaming and there was a lot of turbulence,” the source said.

"It was a really terrifying experience.”

It’s understood the plane was then diverted to Bucharest in Romania and that passengers had to stay there overnight while the aircraft was being serviced.

The flight took off earlier today and arrived in Dublin this afternoon.

In a statement, Ryanair apologised for any inconvenience caused to passengers but said the incident was “beyond our control”.

“This flight from Sofia to Dublin (26 June) diverted to Bucharest after the aircraft encountered a lightning strike,” a spokesperson said.

"The aircraft landed normally in Bucharest at 03:15 local, passengers disembarked, and the aircraft was taken for inspection by our engineers before being cleared to return to service later that morning.

The statement continued: “Despite Ryanair’s efforts to arrange accommodation and transport to/from the airport for passengers while the aircraft was being serviced, there were limited staff available at the airport due to the late hour, and passengers were advised that they could also arrange individual accommodation and transport to/from the airport and that they could claim back expenses on Ryanair.com.”

This flight departed for Dublin later that same day (27 June) arriving in Dublin at 3.15pm local."

“Ryanair sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused as a result of this weather-related diversion, which was beyond our control,” the spokesperson added.

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