A SriLankan Airlines flight was forced to turn around on Friday after it encountered lightning while flying to Sydney from Colombo. According to reports from local news outlet Daily Mirror- Sri Lanka , passengers heard a loud bang shortly after the incident and briefly saw flames coming from one of the aircraft’s engines. The crew quickly brought the situation under control.A video was shared by the outlet on social media showing sparks as the plane was flying and then landed back on the airport.The pilots later informed passengers that the aircraft had been struck by lightning, causing minor damage to an engine. As a precaution, the flight abandoned its journey to Sydney and returned to Colombo, where it landed safely.Meanwhile, ANI quoted an airlines source to confirm on the turnback, adding that the flightdeparted from Colombo at 00:05 hrs on Friday with 207 passengers and 16 crew members. The aircraft landed safely back at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) following the “operational incident during adverse weather conditions”.
