A SriLankan aircraft bound for Sydney was suddenly diverted back to Katunayake due to a lightning strike.

A SriLankan Airlines aircraft, which commenced its journey from Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport to Sydney, Australia, this morning (12), was suddenly diverted back to Katunayake due to being struck by lightning. The Chief Airport Duty Officer confirmed that the incident occurred due to severe lightning conductivity caused by adverse weather conditions in the area, and subsequently, the pilot took steps to safely land the aircraft.

The aircraft that faced the lightning strike was a wide-body Airbus A330, flight UL-606, which departed from Katunayake around 1:00 AM today. At the time of this unexpected incident, there were 217 passengers and 16 crew members on board. Following the emergency, the pilot decided to immediately suspend the flight to Sydney. Accordingly, the aircraft successfully landed back at Katunayake Airport without any further incident around 1:40 AM.

Following the incident, SriLankan Airlines took steps to prepare another alternative Airbus A330 aircraft of the same type to promptly send the affected passengers to Sydney. The airport duty officer further stated that this alternative aircraft departed from Katunayake with the passengers for Sydney again around 6:06 AM today. Meanwhile, the aircraft that was struck by lightning has been sent to the SriLankan Airlines engineering repair hangar at Katunayake Airport for detailed inspections and necessary repairs.