Lufthansa flight makes emergency landing after lightning strike, several injured post severe turbulence

A Lufthansa flight had to make an emergency landing Wednesday at Dulles International Airport in Virginia due to turbulence. Media reports have mentioned that the flight madean emergency landing after it was struck by lightning. The aircraft plummeted1,000 feet while the seatbelt sign was turned off.

Several passengers sustained injuries and had to be hospitalised due to the incident, officials said. The incident was reported onLufthansa Flight No. 469 which was flying from Austin, Texas, to Frankfurt, Germany. It had to be diverted following "severe turbulence" while over Tennessee, and landed at Dulles at 9:10 pm ET, the Federal Aviation Administration told CBS News.

The FAA said that according to the crew, the Airbus A330 was flying at an altitude of about 37,000 feet when turbulence hit. Seven people were taken to local hospitals, CBS reported.

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The FAA is currently investigating the matter.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Spirit Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing in Jacksonville due to a battery fire in an overhead bin, the FAA said. The flight was flying to Orlando, Florida, and one person sustained injuries, for which he was hospitalised.

Turbulence has caused several such incidents in the past. In December last year, a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix to Honolulu experienced turbulence, injuring 25 passengers. In June, eight people on a flight flying from Florida to Tennessee werehurt due to turbulence.

(With inputs from agencies)

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