Air traffic controller struck by lightening
09.07.09
An air traffic controller at Newcastle Airport was struck by lightning while working 130ft above the ground. Vikki Cole, 26, was in the control tower during an electrical storm on Monday when lightening hit the building, passed through the room and shot up her arm. Remarkably, after a check-up she was able to return to work a couple of hours later and completed her shift!
Moments before she was injured, six bolts struck the ground at different points around the airport. Ms Cole told the Journal newspaper: ‘We were looking out to see which end of the runway to direct a plane in to land. I was using a touch screen phone to advise the radar room when a bolt hit the tower. My finger was in contact with the screen when it hit, I heard a crackle and I felt a shock in my finger.’ She only suffered a slight headache, adding: ‘It was a totally surreal experience.’
No equipment in the tower was damaged, but an emergency alarm was set off by the strike. An airport spokesman said: ‘The lightning struck the glass of the tower and she was holding a piece of equipment which acted as a conductor. She had been at the top of the tower relaying the prevailing weather conditions down to the radar room. It was a very minor shock which caused tingling in her left arm, a headache and made her feel unwell. She visited the occupational health department for a check up, then went back on shift.’
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