Spirit Airlines flight 2214, with service between Philadelphia International Airport to Cancun International Airport, diverted to PHL just 1 hour after takeoff. The reason for the diversion was a supposed double-lightning strike.
Spirit Airlines plane
Flight 2214 is Spirit’s daily direct service between the Pennsylvania capital to the famous Mexican tourist destination of Cancun. The flight departs at 10:05 and lands in Cancun at 13:59. The ultra-low-cost carrier uses its Airbus A321 aircraft on the route.
The flight in today’s incident is a 5-year-old Airbus A321-200 registered as N674NK. Just one hour before departing Philadelphia, the aircraft had flown in from Orlando International Airport.
Eight minutes after taking off and reaching an altitude of 7,950 feet, the aircraft descended and flew in circles numerous times around Philadelphia. At 16:03 UTC, the A321 landed at PHL.
The crew members were heard stating they had been struck by lightning twice on air traffic control recordings between the pilots and Philadelphia air traffic controllers. In a report provided to CNN, the airline said that the aircraft had landed safely and was operating to accommodate passengers affected by the incident.
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Flight being struck by lightning is a regular occurrence, contrary to what most people think. Though these events occur frequently, heavy damage is not often sustained.
According to the United States National Weather Service, on average, most commercial aircraft are struck by lightning once or twice yearly. The last time a commercial aviation crash occurred because of a lightning strike was in 1967, according to an article in Time Magazine from 2018.
JetBlue announced its 1st international route from
Last week, the US ultra-low-cost carrier, soon to merge with JetBlue, reported its 1st international route from Hartford, Connecticut. From December 15, 2022, the airline launched 4 weekly flights from Connecticut to Jamaica. The airline’s A320ceos and A320neos will service the route.
Between now and October 2023, the airline has plans to launch another three international routes from Hartford. Spirit Airlines will fly to Toronto, Dublin, and Cancun the next year 2023.
Spirit declared a new partnership
Spirit declared a new partnership for pilot training last week. The airline will begin working with L3Harris to train pilots at L3Harris’ facilities in Florida. Through the new partnership, many pilots will have direct access to a major commercial airline and give Spirit a large pipeline.
Continuing with Spirit’s busy week, the airline declared 3 new routes from Charleston, South Carolina. On April 5, Spirit plans to launch direct flights from Charleston to Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, and Philadelphia International Airport. Recent plans show that the airline will operate its Airbus A320 fleet for the new routes.
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Source: Simple flying