Lightning strikes plane three times

Frightening footage shows the moment lightning hit a Boeing 737 full of passengers three times as it flew above the English city of Birmingham.

Remarkably the KLM flight from Amsterdam to Birmingham was unaffected despite the bolts hitting the plane, and passengers were not told until after the plane had landed.

Passenger Tony Everitt said he heard "one massive bang" on the flight last Friday.

"After the bang, my initial thought was the engine had blown-up," he told the Birmingham Post.

"Surprisingly, it wasn't frightening, it was exciting."

He said there was a lot of chatter on board, but no screaming.

"I know they spend a lot of time in the air, but I'm amazed by how calm they are," Mr Everitt said.

"The pilot simply said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, you may have noticed we were hit by lightning'."

The instant the plane was hit was captured on a mobile phone camera by local woman Tracy Meakin White.

"I didn't even see the plane at first, I was just clicking on my phone and then afterwards I saw the aircraft," she said.

"It is amazing that nobody was hurt, we have a lot of planes coming over the house, living so close to the airport, but I have never seen anything like this."