A Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) Airbus A350-900 operating a service to Shanghai, China made a return to Copenhagen after sustaining a lightning strike on 24 September 2024.
Scandinavian Airlines flight SK997, an Airbus A350-900 bound for Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) suffered the lightning strike during the climb after departing from Copenhagen.
SAS SK997 Copenhagen-Shanghai
According to the online source Aviation Herald, a passenger reported seeing a bright flash from the left hand side windows. The flight deck announcement confirmed that it was a lightning strike and that all systems were operating normally.
Approximately 30 minutes after the incident, the aircraft conducted a turn whilst in transit through the Polish airspace. According to the passenger report, a flight deck announcement was then made confirming the flight would return to Copenhagen for inspection.
The aircraft then reportedly made an overweight landing at Copenhagen Airport (CPH). Service vehicles attended the aircraft’s arrival as a precaution.
Flight Details
Flight data shows that flight SK997 made an initial departure from Copenhagen at 2336 local time on 24 September. The flight had then set course, and had climbed to cruising level FL350 (35,000 feet) for the easterly service to Shanghai.
The aircraft was in the cruise at FL350 in transit through Polish airspace when the return to Copenhagen was initiated.
Following its return to Copenhagen, the schedule service was postponed until the following day. Thunderstorms had been forecast for the Copenhagen area at the time of the flight’s departure.
The aircraft conducting the SK997 service to Shanghai was an Airbus A350-900, registered SE-RSD. This is a 4.3-year-old wide-body aircraft belonging to the carrier SAS Scandinavian Airlines. It has been in operational service with the airline since its initial delivery from the factory in July 2020. The aircraft operates under the airline name of ‘Halvard Viking’.
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