So, it’s just a few days now before we’re leaving for New York!
And today, Aftonbladet, one of our major Swedish newspapers, posted this article:
Plan ställdes in – efter blixtnedslag
I’ve made a quick translation of the article here, mostly using Google Translate, so pardon the bad English…
Flight was canceled – after lightning strike
A thunderstorm that struck Stockholm yesterday also reached the airport.
After a plane from Norwegian that would fly to New York was hit by lightning the trip was postponed – and this morning it was cancelled.
All passengers are now stranded at the airport.
Dreamliner plane to New York was scheduled to take off from Arlanda 5:35 PM yesterday.
But the trip was canceled. Still on the ground, the plane was hit by lightning yesterday afternoon and remained at the airport.
“We are still awaiting information from our engineers regarding the status of the plane after the lightning strike today,” Norwegian announced on their Twitter account yesterday.
According Swedavia the plane was canceled due to technical problems.
No information
According to the traveler Diana Ionescu the travelers were first informed that the trip was delayed and then they got new estimated departure times every two hours. This morning, just before 10 o’clock, came the news that the trip was canceled and that they had to pick up their bags.
– It is so sad. These things can happen, but it’s so frustrating that we do not get any information about what is happening at all, says the traveler Diana Ionescu.
“Book with another airline”
The only news they received from the airline was a text message stating that they can get their money back or book a new trip with the company.
The next possible departure as they can book directly from Stockholm to New York with Norwegian will not leave until Friday.
– That won’t do. I have paid 10 000, I’ve booked a hotel and planned to be away for a week. There are people here who have babies and there are older people, says Diana Ionescu and continues:
– I have not decided yet. But I’m looking to book with another airline so I get going.
”Will not take any chances”
According to Norwegian the flight was cancelled after the engineers concluded that it could not fly.
But planes are built to withstand lightning strikes, so what is the problem?
– What is important is to specify that the plane is built to withstand lightning strikes. But what can happen is that one of the systems has been affected and you should not take any chances. I’m not familiar with the details of the problem but what we can say is that the plane is on the ground because of this, says Lasse Sand Aker-Nielsen, CIO at Norwegian.
The airline says that they constantly gave the passengers new information.
– We always tell them everything we know at the moment. Our goal has been to fix the plane, but the conclusion was that we are not able to fly completely safely again. It is frustrating for the passengers, but safety always comes first. Engineers have tried to do everything to get the plane airborne again.
It’s not that I’m afraid of flying itself (I actually feel more relaxed on a plane than on any other vehicle) but these are somewhat disturbing news. I really hope the passengers were booked on other flights–and that the weather will stabilize until Friday…
*bites her nails*